Canva to cut about 22% of staff as growth slowdown triggers restructuring

Australian graphic design platform Canva Group announced on Wednesday that it will be cutting 1,271 jobs, or roughly 22% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring effort following a decade-long slowdown in growth. The Sydney-based company, known for its user-friendly design tools, is among the latest tech firms to reduce headcount as the industry adapts to rapid advancements in AI and evolving business requirements.

Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins revealed that the changes will reshape Canva's organizational structure, team locations, and staffing needs. The company plans to merge its product, growth, and platform teams into a single product organization to reduce handovers and grant teams greater autonomy. Canva also intends to streamline management layers and consolidate roles to enhance accountability and decision-making.

The company intends to make Sydney the primary hub for its product teams and expects some employees to relocate. Starting from January, most hybrid workers will be required to spend two to three days in the office. Additionally, Canva will offer departing employees a $10,000 grant to support their future endeavors. In recent times, other software companies have followed suit, with Atlassian reducing 1,600 jobs in March to fund further AI investment and enterprise sales, and WiseTech Global cutting nearly a third of its global workforce in February as part of a two-year restructuring, potentially making it one of the largest AI-linked job cuts in Australia.