Canva is restructuring its workforce, affecting 1,271 employees—about 22% of its staff. Some will be asked to change roles or consider relocating to a central office, while others will leave the company. CEO and co-founder Melanie Perkins told employees that growth had slowed for the first time in a decade. She said the changes are intended to reshape the organization and its skills base for the company’s next stage. The scale of the cuts highlights how slower growth and competition from generative AI are prompting design-software companies to reassess staffing and costs.
Slower growth and new AI competition
Canva has already lowered its growth expectations. In August, the company cut its 2026 revenue growth forecast to 20%, from 30%. Perkins described this year as Canva’s “toughest year yet” and said growth had slowed for the first time in a decade.
The company is also facing competition from new AI tools, including image-generation models launched by OpenAI and Google. Perkins said the technology is changing how users create content and what they expect from products. After considering several options, she said Canva concluded that incremental changes would not be enough to support its next phase, leading it to pursue a broader reorganization.
Canva was founded 13 years ago, and Perkins said its platform now serves hundreds of millions of users. She stressed that decisions about individual roles were not a judgment on employees’ ability, commitment or past contributions. Instead, they reflect the company’s future objectives, organizational structure, required skills and office locations.
Product, growth and platform teams to combine
The restructuring has three main elements. First, Canva will bring its product, growth and platform teams together in a single product organization. The company said the existing divisions meant product improvements often required handoffs and coordination across multiple teams, making complex issues harder to resolve. The combined structure is intended to clarify ownership, give teams more autonomy and reduce time spent coordinating processes.
Second, Canva will reduce narrowly defined specialist roles, combine overlapping responsibilities and simplify management layers. Perkins said teams had become divided into an increasing number of specialties. While that built expertise, it also spread responsibility across groups and made it harder for one team to deliver an objective from start to finish. Some more narrowly focused roles will be folded into broader positions.
Third, the company plans to increase in-person collaboration and bring more teams together in central offices. Sydney will become the main office for more product teams, and other functions that require close collaboration may also be based there. Canva said it will continue to build a global workforce, but some employees will be asked to consider relocating; the company said it will support them through the process. From January, most hybrid employees are expected to work from an office about two to three days a week, with arrangements depending on local circumstances.
Departing staff to receive at least six months’ pay
Canva outlined a package of support for employees who leave. All departing staff will receive at least six months’ salary, including statutory entitlements. For employees with less than a year of service, the company will waive the one-year waiting period for equity vesting. In countries where the benefits are currently available, employees will also receive 12 months of health coverage and continued access to Canva Care, the employee assistance program, for 12 months. Family members can also use the program.
Career support will include one-to-one coaching, interview preparation and a year of LinkedIn Premium. Canva’s talent acquisition team will help employees revise their resumes and practise interviews. The company will also create an opt-in alumni directory and recommend departing staff to investors, partners and industry contacts.
Employees leaving the company can keep their MacBooks. Canva will also establish the Canva Collective Fund, offering $10,000 per person to former employees who want to start a business or launch a community project. Applicants must register their interest by December 14. Canva will not take equity or ownership in the projects.
Employee communications vary across 37 countries
Canva has teams in 37 countries, so employee communications and departure procedures will follow local requirements and may differ in timing and format. Employees affected by the changes will be invited to individual meetings with senior leaders in their areas to discuss next steps and available support. Departing employees will retain access to Slack and Gmail through the end of this week so they can decide how to say goodbye to colleagues.
The company plans to hold an all-hands meeting on November 10 to explain the changes and answer questions. Meetings for individual organizational groups are scheduled for after November 11. Perkins said Canva would cancel non-essential meetings this week and give employees time off if they needed space to process the news. For the company, the immediate questions are how the workforce changes will be implemented and whether the combined teams can support its revised growth target.