Samsung Electronics is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce global headcount by thousands of jobs, according to people familiar with the situation. The layoffs could affect about 10% of the workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary may vary, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10% in certain markets, said the person. The South Korean company has about 147,000 staff overseas, more than half of its total employees of more than 267,800, according to its latest sustainability report.

Klarna - which is based in Sweden, and has two UK offices - disclosed its job-cutting plans as it announced interim results which showed it increased its revenue by 27% to 13.3 billion Swedish krona ( 990 million). "Our proven scale efficiencies have been enhanced by our investment in AI, which has driven down operating expenses and improved gross profits," it said. It comes as unions have warned of mass job losses amid the growth of AI and are calling for legislation to protect workers. Mr Siemiatkowski said Klarna would reduce its headcount through what he called "natural attrition" - effectively a hiring freeze, where staff aren't replaced after they leave. Typically this means the people that remain are left with an increased workload. But Mr Siemiatkowski contended that AI would be replacing this work, and even claimed it was a potential "positive development" for some individuals who may be paid more.