Canva job cuts affect over 1,200 employees as it restructures for AI era

Canva is undertaking a major workforce restructuring affecting 1,271 employees, or 22% of its workforce, as it reorganises its business to adapt to rapid technological change.

The changes include redundancies, role changes and relocation requests, although the company has not disclosed how many employees will leave.

Chief executive officer Melanie Perkins said the restructuring followed the company’s first slowdown in growth in a decade and reflected the need to rethink how it operates and organises its teams.

In a note to employees published on November 4, Perkins described the development as the hardest moment in Canva’s 13-year history. She said, “New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use.”

The memo did not explicitly blame artificial intelligence for the job changes. It also pointed to slowing growth and an organisational structure that had become fragmented as the company expanded.

“After exploring a wide range of alternatives, I’ve come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won’t be enough. To set ourselves up for the next decade, we need to refound Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions, take ownership and focus on what matters most for our community,” Perkins wrote.

Canva will combine its Product, Growth and Platform teams into a single Product organisation, reduce narrow specialisations and remove management layers. Sydney will become the main base for more product teams. From January, most hybrid employees are expected to work from an office for two to three days a week, depending on their location.

Founded in Australia in 2013 by Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, Canva has grown into a global design platform. The company claims more than 25 crore people use its platform each month. It is now looking to expand beyond template-based design.

Canva AI 2.0, introduced this year, allows users to create and revise layered, editable designs through conversations with an AI assistant. In October, the company also announced new AI tools and a design-focused model.

In August Canva had reduced its 2026 revenue growth forecast to 20% from 30% after the cost of delivering AI features proved higher than expected. Competitors are also expanding their offerings. On November 3, Figma announced an AI feature that uses prototype interactions as context when generating code. Atlassian said in March that it would cut about 1,600 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, partly to fund greater investment in AI. Website platform Squarespace announced a separate 19% workforce reduction this week, citing the need to simplify operations.

Regulation is evolving alongside technology. From August 2, transparency requirements under the European Union’s AI Act apply to certain AI systems. These include informing users when they interact with AI and ensuring AI-generated outputs carry machine-readable markings.

Canva said departing employees will receive at least six months’ salary, healthcare coverage for 12 months in countries where it is provided, career support and access to $10,000 grants for those seeking to start a venture.