Canva is reorganizing teams, centralizing more roles in Sydney and cutting jobs, but the company has not said how many of the affected workers will actually be laid off.
Canva has announced a major restructuring that will affect 1,271 employees, or 22% of its workforce, as the Australian design software company responds to slowing growth and rapid changes in technology. The changes include job losses, altered roles and requests for some employees to relocate, although Canva has not disclosed how many of the 1,271 affected workers will ultimately leave the company.
Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the changes in a memo to staff published by Canva on November 3. She described the restructuring as the hardest moment in the company’s 13-year history and said growth had slowed for the first time in a decade.
The company is making the changes after a difficult year in which its expected growth rate was reduced. Business Insider reported that Canva lowered its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20% in August, while the company has also faced stronger competition from generative AI products and other design tools.
Canva Plans a Broader Product Organization
One of the largest changes involves combining Canva’s Product, Growth and Platform teams into a single Product Organization. Perkins said the company had become more divided into narrow areas of ownership as it expanded, creating extra handoffs and making it harder for teams to take responsibility for larger projects.
Canva also plans to reduce what Perkins called subspecialization, simplify management layers and combine overlapping responsibilities. The goal is to give smaller teams more control over projects from beginning to end instead of splitting work among multiple specialized groups.
The restructuring will also change where some employees work. Sydney will become the main home for more of Canva’s product teams and for other positions where the company believes close collaboration is especially important.
Some employees will be asked to consider relocating to centralized hubs. Canva said it will continue investing in its global workforce, but Perkins acknowledged that bringing people together across many countries has made some complex work more difficult.
Beginning in January, most hybrid employees will also be expected to spend about two to three days per week in an office, depending on their team and location. Canva operates across 37 countries, so the timing and legal process for employee changes will vary by country.
Support for Employees Who Leave
Canva has outlined a broad support package for workers whose employment ends as part of the restructuring. The company said departing employees will receive at least six months of salary, including any statutory entitlements required in their location.
Employees in countries where Canva currently provides healthcare coverage will receive another 12 months of coverage. The company will also continue its employee assistance program for 12 months and extend that support to family members.
Canva said it is removing the one-year vesting cliff for people who joined the company during the past year. Departing employees will also receive career services, including one-on-one coaching, interview preparation and one year of LinkedIn Premium.
The company is allowing people who leave to keep their Canva-issued MacBooks. It is also creating an opt-in alumni directory that Canva plans to share with investors, partners and other companies that may be hiring.
Canva is launching a separate program called the Canva Collective Fund for employees who want to start a business or pursue another project after leaving. Eligible departing employees can apply for a US$10,000 grant, and Canva said it will not take ownership or equity in projects funded through the program.
Perkins said individual meetings would be held with affected workers to explain what happens next. Canva also scheduled a company-wide meeting for November 10 to discuss the restructuring and answer employee questions.
Slower Growth and Rising AI Competition
The restructuring comes as Canva faces a more difficult competitive environment than it did during much of its rapid expansion. New artificial intelligence tools can now generate images, layouts and other creative material from simple written prompts, putting pressure on traditional design software companies to add similar capabilities.
Canva has been investing heavily in AI tools of its own, but the cost and speed of that transition have affected its growth plans. Reuters reported that the company is restructuring after growth slowed for the first time in a decade, while Perkins said in her memo that new technology is changing what users can create and what they expect from software.
The company’s private valuation has also been marked down by some investors. Blackbird and AirTree reduced their valuation of Canva from US$42 billion to US$34.9 billion in August, while Canva’s own independent valuation for an employee share program was reported at US$31 billion.
Those figures do not represent a public market price because Canva remains privately held, and different investors may value the company differently. Still, the markdowns show that some backers have become more cautious as Canva works through slower growth, higher AI costs and increased competition.
Canva was founded in Sydney in 2013 by Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams. It grew into one of Australia’s most prominent technology companies by making design tools easier for nonprofessional users and expanding into presentations, social media graphics, video, documents and workplace collaboration.
Perkins said the company now wants to return to smaller teams with broader ownership and more freedom to make decisions. The restructuring is intended to position Canva for its next phase, but its immediate effect will be significant for employees whose jobs, locations or responsibilities are changing.
The company has not yet provided a final number for how many positions will be eliminated outright. That distinction remains important because the 1,271 figure includes workers whose roles may change or who may be asked to relocate, not only employees who will be laid off.
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