For more than a decade, Canva was the startup that kept growing while the rest of the tech world cut back. That run has now ended.
The Australian graphic design platform will cut 1,271 jobs, about 22 per cent of its workforce, in what Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Melanie Perkins called the hardest moment in the company's 13-year history. She set out the decision on Wednesday in a note to employees published on Canva's official website. It followed months of deliberation over the company's structure, where its teams are based and what skills it will need in future.
The restructuring will reach 1,271 employees worldwide. Some roles will change, some staff will be moved to centralised hubs, and some jobs will be eliminated. Some teams will be merged, while others will take on wider responsibilities as the company tries to make its organisation less complex.
A company admitting it has to change
The most striking part of Perkins' note is how candid it is. She wrote that Canva's growth had slowed for the first time in ten years, and that rapid technological change is reshaping both what customers expect and how products are built.
She argued that small adjustments would not be enough. Instead, she said Canva needs to refound itself around smaller, more empowered teams. That is unusual language for a company of Canva's size. It amounts to rebuilding the organisation rather than trimming costs at the edges.
In practice, Canva will combine its product, growth and platform functions into a single product organisation. It will also reduce specialised roles and management layers, and ask staff to collaborate in person more often. Sydney will become the primary hub for more product teams, and from January most hybrid employees will be expected in the office two to three days a week.
Why this matters beyond Canva
The overhaul follows a pattern now visible across the technology sector: flatter organisations, fewer managers, more office time, and a push to build products faster as technology changes the market. When a company long seen as a model of steady growth says that gradual change will not work, it suggests the pressure on software businesses is structural and not just cyclical.
For Canva's large base of creators, small businesses and marketing teams, the key question is whether a leaner organisation can ship products faster without hurting the ease of use that made the platform popular in the first place.
Softening the blow
Canva has offered departing employees one of the more generous exit packages seen in recent tech layoffs. It includes at least six months' salary, continued healthcare coverage where applicable, career transition assistance and extended employee support services. Eligible former staff can also apply for a $10,000 grant through the newly launched Canva Collective Fund.
Perkins said the changes are meant to keep Canva competitive over the coming decade, and she acknowledged the human cost for the employees who are leaving. Whether the "refounding" brings growth back is likely to become one of the most closely watched turnaround stories in global tech.
(With inputs from IANS)
