1,271 Canva Jobs Cut, Moved or Changed in 22% Workforce Overhaul

Canva, the Australian design platform, announced a restructuring on Nov. 4 that affects 1,271 employees, or 22% of its workforce. Not all of those people are losing their jobs: the figure covers layoffs, relocations and changes to existing roles, according to Storyboard18 and lnt.ma.

For staff, the practical effects include fewer management layers, more work centered in Sydney and, from January, more days in the office for many hybrid employees. The company has also announced a support package for people who leave.

What is changing inside Canva

In a message to employees, co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said the company needed to reorganize after its first slowdown in growth in a decade, the outlets reported. Storyboard18 said she called it the hardest decision in Canva's 13-year history.

Canva plans to merge its Product, Growth and Platform divisions into a single organization, reduce layers of management and consolidate overlapping responsibilities, according to Storyboard18. It is also moving toward broader roles and smaller teams with more ownership over their projects.

More product teams and some specialist functions will be centralized in Sydney, Storyboard18 reported. Lnt.ma added that from January, many employees on hybrid arrangements will be expected to work in the office two or three days a week.

What departing employees are offered

Canva said people leaving the company will receive at least six months of salary and career transition assistance. Lnt.ma reported that healthcare assistance will be provided where available. Storyboard18 reported that eligible employees pursuing entrepreneurial ventures can receive grants of $10,000.

Canva operates in 37 countries but has not published a country-by-country breakdown of who is affected, according to Storyboard18.

Why it matters: workers, creators and the AI question

For employees, the main consequence is uncertainty over whether a role will be cut, changed or moved. Because the 1,271 figure mixes several kinds of change, it does not show how many people are actually losing jobs, and the company has not given that split.

The restructuring also lands as artificial intelligence tools let users generate images, presentations and other design materials from text prompts, which lnt.ma described as new competition for traditional creative software. Lnt.ma reported that Canva earlier this year lowered its expected revenue growth from 30% to 20%.

Canva has pushed back on the idea that AI is replacing staff. A spokesperson told Storyboard18 that the technology is changing the products Canva builds and the skills it needs, and that the changes are meant to position the company to build those products rather than to have AI do the work of departing employees. Lnt.ma noted that Canva has not named AI as the direct cause of the cuts.

What it means for Canva's India content team

The effects have reached the company's India operations. Mehek Malhotra, who served as India Content Lead for nearly six years, said in a social media post that she was among those affected, according to Storyboard18.

Malhotra said she helped build Canva's India design team from 2021. The team produced templates, illustrations, fonts and regional scripts aimed at Indian users, covering festivals, weddings and family celebrations. It also made creative kits for small businesses such as home bakers, boutique owners and tutors, per her post as described by Storyboard18.

It is not clear whether other members of the India design and content teams have been affected. Canva has not said whether those roles will be touched by the move toward Sydney-centered teams, and Storyboard18 reported that the company has not announced any plan to end India-specific content development or hand it to global teams.

What is still unknown

Canva has not disclosed how many of the 1,271 employees will lose their jobs, how many will be asked to relocate, or how the changes break down by country. It also has not said whether India-specific design work will continue under its current structure or be folded into broader global content operations.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by Storyboard18, lnt.ma