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Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

klarna.com

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Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#51

Post by rmbyrro »

vmception wrote: post #3

If you're being fired > The invite will be titled “Meeting regarding your role at Klarna”. lol ouch! They should make it a gamble where everyone has a meeting and you don't know what the outcome will be! But since thats even more resource intensive I would much prefer a mass pre-recorded zoom call over that. I can understand that the former thing has better PR than the latter thing. But I think employed Americans are…

Lots of people also criticize mass calls.

There's no way to please everyone. Especially in a mass lay-off.

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#52

Post by christkv »

vmception wrote: post #3

If you're being fired > The invite will be titled “Meeting regarding your role at Klarna”. lol ouch! They should make it a gamble where everyone has a meeting and you don't know what the outcome will be! But since thats even more resource intensive I would much prefer a mass pre-recorded zoom call over that. I can understand that the former thing has better PR than the latter thing. But I think employed Americans are…

Like a wheel of fortune with the possibility of winning 12x months of severance pay.

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#53

Post by ushakov »

vmception wrote: post #3

If you're being fired > The invite will be titled “Meeting regarding your role at Klarna”. lol ouch! They should make it a gamble where everyone has a meeting and you don't know what the outcome will be! But since thats even more resource intensive I would much prefer a mass pre-recorded zoom call over that. I can understand that the former thing has better PR than the latter thing. But I think employed Americans are…

why not get more creative?

make a fortune wheel with each employee’s name on it and fire anybody who’s got lucky

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#54

Post by nowherebeen »

nvrspyx wrote: post #47
nowherebeen wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fired means you did something wrong. Let go means you were let go of your job through no fault of your own.

Wouldn't the latter be layoff? I feel like let go can be used for either; a more polite way of saying "fired" or an alternative to "laid off".

It's an alternative to laid off I think. When I think of let go, I think more contract work or temp workers. They were let go, but they weren't laid off since they weren't permanent employees to begin with.

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#55

Post by mittermayr »

I think it's sad to see a CEO who doesn't seem to care all too much about hiding the fact that it isn't just the Ukraine, inflation, and it probably isn't the recession that is demanding this. It's everything he and his team did leading up to this. A convenient way also to use points at everything around us to justify a trim and rebalance of the culture and operating cost.

I always felt that good CEOs (from a culture perspective) make it clear that in times of trouble, the first priority is not the business, but everyone working there. Sure, all that won't matter if the business folds, but Klarna is a long way from crashing and there's a hundred and one firms out there ready to pay up to keep this going.

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#57

Post by dannyw »

mittermayr wrote: post #55

I think it's sad to see a CEO who doesn't seem to care all too much about hiding the fact that it isn't just the Ukraine, inflation, and it probably isn't the recession that is demanding this. It's everything he and his team did leading up to this. A convenient way also to use points at everything around us to justify a trim and rebalance of the culture and operating cost. I always felt that good CEOs (from a culture…

No, the reason why lay-offs are happening is exactly because of inflation and the likely upcoming recession.

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#58

Post by rmbyrro »

phphphphp wrote: post #44
rmbyrro wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually found it a humane way of dealing with the situation. They let everyone know in advance. Have the decency of individual communication. Anticipated what type of invite to expect. Promised to roll out quickly, in a matter of days. I mean, probably not the "perfect" layoff, but certainly not close to worse, or even "terrible".

I very much disagree. For people with anxious tendencies, this type of email is absolutely awful to receive, and consider that most of those let go will be at lower rungs of the company, so job security in the current market is going to be a big source of anxiety. “You are at risk of losing your job, but you’ll have to wait all week to find out”

> For people with anxious tendencies ... the current market is going to be a big source of anxiety

I sympathize, but unfortunately I don't see much of what an employer could do to mitigate. This is just the harsh reality that everyone must live through...

Re: Klarna – Company announcement from CEO regarding layoffs

#59

Post by jkonline »

dvt wrote: post #39
atty wrote: post #21

Honestly, what a terrible letter. Did not once say the words layoff or let go. Using phrases like “continue to be part of klarna’s journey”. Good lord, is this a business or a cult? And not a single line about concrete steps they will take to support the layoffs (multi-month severance packages, etc). Hopefully that is what they intend, but as of right now, this is pretty disappointing.

What a weird comment. The letter was perfectly fine. Firing a bunch of people is hard, impacts morale, and it's important to make sure people that you keep onboard don't panic. The letter didn't seem culty to me at all, and supporting layoffs was clearly addressed and will be done on regional-specific terms. Lawyers look at this kind of correspondence and tone down the language in some cases.

I agree, I thought the letter was fine. Classy, even.

I don't see a need to have more specific language in the all-employee announcement email.

The right place for that language is in the message(s) specifically to the person's being fired. And, to their credit, they let people know ahead of time what the exact subject of that message will be.

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