Payment service Mollie announces first reorganization after years of unbridled growth

After years of rampant growth, payment service Mollie is implementing its first reorganization and layoffs, founder Adriaan Mol confirmed to the Financieele Dagblad. He spoke of a relatively minor intervention, affecting less than 10 percent of Mollie’s about 800 employees.

“This is a consequence of the realization that our company has grown too quickly. We hired too many people in a short time and went too far. The company is no longer efficient,” Mol said. The FinTech company informed its employees about the upcoming layoffs about a week and a half ago, he said. The works council, the benefits agency UWV, and the supervisory authority De Nederlandsche Bank were also informed.

Discussions are taking place with the affected employees, the company told ANP.

It is the first time that Mollie has distanced itself from its aggressive growth plans. The move illustrates a turnaround in the FinTech sector. Companies now have to pay more attention to costs as investors no longer consider FinTech as the big promise solution for all future problems, according to the newspaper. “The future looks very different than everyone thought two years ago,” Mol told FD.

That became very clear last month when sector darling Adyen lost half of its stock market value in a few days after announcing disappointing figures.

Mollie recorded a net loss of 121.5 million euros in 2022, 70 percent more than the previous year. The company struggled with rapidly increasing personnel costs. According to Mol, the company is cutting some intermediate layers in its organizational structure and intervening in the commercial department. The customer research department may also be affected by redundancies. “We are organizing the company differently and preparing for the next phase of growth,” Mol told FD.

Things have been restless at Mollie for some time. The CEO and CFO left in a short period, followed by changes in the supervisory board. When asked about complaints on online platforms, Mol denied that the company board lacks vision and that there is a toxic work environment. “The organization has become flatter, with more individual responsibility,” he told the newspaper. “If you ask me, I would say that the culture has actually improved.”