Canva will cut, change or relocate 1,271 roles as artificial intelligence reshapes its business.
Growth has slowed for the first time in a decade, and the overhaul hits 22 percent of the Australian design platform's workforce. It leaves the company in a delicate financial balance as it prepares for a potential public listing.
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Perkins cited the first growth slowdown in a decade as a primary reason for the restructuring. She said the company needs to return to running small, empowered teams with fewer niche specializations.
Simpler structure and Sydney hub
Product, Growth and Platform teams will come together as the company streamlines its structure, reducing narrow specializations and management layers.
Sydney will become the main base for more product teams. Most hybrid staff will be required to spend two to three days in the office a week starting in January.
Canva co-founder Perkins, alongside Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, gave no precise breakdown of how many of the 1,271 affected employees would be laid off, change roles or relocate. Reports differ on the announcement date: some say the note appeared on Wednesday, while others date the memo to 3 November or 4 November.
What we know
- 1,271 roles will be cut, changed or relocated, affecting 22 percent of staff.
- Affected employees receive at least six months' salary including statutory entitlements.
- The company reduced its 2026 revenue growth forecast to 20 percent from 30 percent in August.
Still unclear
- How many of the 1,271 affected staff will lose their jobs rather than change roles or relocate.
- The effect of recent market tumult on Canva's current valuation.
- The exact date the memo was distributed, as sources differ between 3 November and 4 November.
Departing employees will receive a minimum of six months' salary, plus statutory entitlements, wherever they are based. In countries where it offers healthcare, that coverage will continue for 12 months.
Canva will remove the one-year vesting cliff for staff who joined during the past year. It is also setting up the Canva Collective Fund to award $10,000 grants to departing employees who want to launch businesses or take on community projects, with no equity or ownership in those ventures required.
AI disruption and slowing growth
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Individuals can accomplish more with AI, without relying on specialized software. Companies are also adopting the technology to run their operations with smaller workforces.
Introduced this year, AI 2.0 lets Canva users work with an AI assistant through conversation to produce and modify editable designs with layers. In October, the company unveiled additional AI tools and a model built for design as it moves beyond template-based work.
In August, Canva lowered its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30 percent to 20 percent, as providing AI features turned out to be more expensive than anticipated.
Valuation and listing plans
Canva is preparing for a possible public listing. Its valuation peaked at $40 billion in 2021, then fell to about $26 billion the following year amid a broad tech selloff. The company's dollar worth later recovered, though it's unclear how recent market turmoil has affected it.
| Terms for affected staff | |
|---|---|
| Salary | At least six months including statutory entitlements, regardless of location |
| Healthcare | 12 months of coverage where currently provided |
| Vesting | One-year cliff removed for employees who joined within the past year |
| Collective Fund | $10,000 grants for starting businesses or community projects, no equity taken |
Industry-wide upheaval
Software companies are facing significant changes across the industry. Investors have marked down these firms by billions of dollars amid fears that new technology such as Anthropic's Claude could cannibalize their business.
In March, Atlassian announced plans to eliminate about 1,600 roles, equal to 10 percent of its workforce, in part to increase AI investment. This week, website platform Squarespace disclosed a separate 19 percent staff reduction, saying it aimed to simplify operations. File storage platform Dropbox is cutting around 200 jobs, or 9 percent of its global workforce, in engineering, product, design and administrative functions.
Canva
Design platform
22% of workforce
- 1,271 roles affected
- Cuts, changes and relocations
- AI-driven restructuring
Industry peers
Software sector
9% to 19% of workforce
- Atlassian: 1,600 jobs (10%)
- Squarespace: 19% reduction
- Dropbox: 200 people (9%)
Australia's technology sector is facing wider turbulence. Firmus Grid abandoned its planned Australian initial public offering last month, which could have raised up to $5.5 billion. Once a rising name in the AI data centre boom, it became one of the largest recent deal failures. In October, Nextdc shares fell sharply after the data centre operator said it was weighing force majeure options and lowered its earnings guidance.
Perkins said it had considered many alternatives before deciding that more substantial action was needed to prepare the company for the next decade.
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Most hybrid staff will be required to spend two to three days in the office a week starting in January.
