Canva Reshapes 22% of Its Workforce After Growth Slows

On November 4 in Australia, Reuters reported that Canva’s restructuring would affect 1,271 people, or 22% of its workforce, after the design platform’s growth slowed for the first time in a decade. The figure covers several kinds of workforce change, so it cannot be read as a confirmed total of job losses.

Canva co-founder and chief executive Melanie Perkins called the change “the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history” in her published staff memo. It identifies employees who will leave, employees asked to relocate to centralised hubs and employees whose roles will change. The plan also combines product functions and makes Sydney the primary home for more product teams.

Which employees are affected

The affected group has three distinct employment outcomes. Canva has given an overall figure, but no separate count for any of the categories:

• Departures: Some employees will leave as the company consolidates responsibilities and changes the roles it needs. The eventual number of departures remains unspecified.
• Relocation requests: Some employees will be asked to move to a centralised hub. A request to relocate is a different outcome from an announced departure, even though an employee may still have a difficult decision to make.
• Changed roles: Other employees will continue at Canva with different responsibilities. Narrower specialties are being incorporated into broader jobs, changing the scope of work for people who stay.

That distinction matters most for employees trying to understand what happens to their own jobs. A single affected-workforce percentage cannot tell them whether their position is ending, moving or being redesigned. Individual conversations will establish the outcome for each person; until those take place, the published figure cannot be divided reliably into layoffs, relocations and role changes.

Product teams will take broader ownership

Product, Growth and Platform work is being brought into one Product Org. The change addresses a specific problem in Canva’s existing structure: improving one part of the design platform could require handovers among teams with narrow areas of ownership. Bringing those functions together is intended to let a team carry a larger product goal from start to finish, with clearer responsibility for the result.

The reorganisation also reduces narrow subspecialisation, consolidates overlapping responsibilities and removes management layers. For employees whose jobs continue, broader ownership may mean a different mix of skills and a wider remit than their previous position. The stated goal is greater autonomy and fewer coordination steps; the effect on delivery speed will depend on how the combined organisation assigns decisions and workloads.

Slower growth is the immediate business backdrop, while changing technology and customer expectations also feature in the company’s account of why its current structure needs work. The proposed answer is an operating model built around fewer handovers and more complete ownership of product problems. That connects the staffing changes to how Canva expects its remaining teams to build and improve the platform.

Sydney becomes a larger product hub

Sydney will be the primary home for more product teams and for some roles in other specialties where close collaboration is considered important. Employees asked to relocate face a decision about where they live as well as where they work. Relocation support is part of the plan, although the number of requests and the terms for individual moves have not been set out publicly.

The shift concentrates closely connected work in Sydney while retaining teams near customers and markets elsewhere. It changes the geography of product work without describing a wholesale move of Canva’s global workforce. Which roles must move will become clearer through the individual conversations with affected staff.

Office expectations are changing more broadly. From January, most hybrid employees are expected to spend around two or three days a week in the office, depending on their area. That expectation applies beyond the employees asked to relocate: it changes the routine for many people who remain in their current roles and locations. For product teams brought together in Sydney, the location and attendance changes are intended to make in-person collaboration easier.

AI and support for departing employees

In Australian Associated Press reporting, a Canva spokesperson described the changes as “not using AI to do the work of people who are leaving,” while Professionals Australia director Paul Inglis called for honesty about AI’s effect on jobs. AI is influencing the products Canva builds and how it delivers them. The company’s stated restructuring reasons concern product needs, team structure, roles and location; it has not assigned a share of the departures to AI.

People leaving will receive at least six months of salary, inclusive of statutory entitlements, regardless of location. The package includes twelve months of continued healthcare coverage where Canva already provides it, twelve months of its employee assistance programme for departing staff and family members, and career help such as coaching and interview preparation. Departing employees can keep their Canva MacBooks.

Canva is also offering US$10,000 grants through its Collective Fund to departing employees who want to start a business or a community project. Those leaving as part of the changes have until December 14 to register their interest, and the company will take no ownership or equity in what they create. The grant is a separate opportunity from the salary and career support available during departure.

When teams will learn more

Affected employees are to receive invitations to individual meetings with senior leaders about their next steps and available support. The process may differ across countries because local requirements vary. Team leaders will then explain changes within their areas, giving remaining employees a clearer view of their colleagues and responsibilities.

A company-wide meeting is scheduled for November 10, followed by meetings for individual organisations from November 11. Those discussions should begin to show how the combined Product Org will allocate ownership and how the larger Sydney hub will operate. The most consequential information for each affected employee will come from their individual meeting: whether they are leaving, considering a move or continuing in a changed role.

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