Tremors in the marketplace have had even massively successful fintech firms readying themselves for the worst. Following drastic new cost-cutting measures at Robinhood and Better.com, Klarna announced at the end of May they would be laying off 10% of their work force in anticipation of dire financial times to come.
Klarna’s competitors have seen the direction the Swedish BNPL company is going, and perhaps surprisingly, they’re now racing in the opposite direction.
According to a tweet by Wise’s Chief Executive Officer Kristo Käärmaan, there is “so much demand for international banking, we can’t hire people fast enough to build it.” Indeed, the British digital money transfer outfit has nearly four hundred openings on its website.
And Wise is hardly the only fintech looking to hire. N26, German digital bank and major European rival to Klarna, has “no current plans to reduce headcount,” according to a company spokesperson. In fact, N26 will be making ongoing “strategic investments to grow our team with a focus on product, technology, compliance, and financial crime prevention.”
At this point, it’s clear that the fintech world’s top players are still divided on whether the current downturn in the global economy is only a minor bump in the road or will end up being a major hurdle to overcome for companies dealing in digital innovations like crypto and BNPL.
