- Canva wants to streamline its workforce so fewer employees are working in silos
- Some workers will be asked to relocate – Sydney hub becomes more important
- The company continues to improve its AI models and is on track for an increase in revenue
Canva has announced plans to relocate, reposition or even cut more than a fifth (22%) of its workforce, equivalent to 1,271 employees, making it “without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history,” per a company-wide message from co-founder and CEO Mel Perkins.
She acknowledged that Canva’s organizational structure has become increasingly complicated in recent years due to substantial growth, noting that teams have become divided into “narrow areas of ownership” with too many managers and “more handovers and coordination than necessary.”
Canva isn’t the first company to note this complexity, with plenty of other tech giants also looking to flatten organizational structures and streamline lines of management.
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Canva confirms major workforce reshuffling and layoffs
The change is largely being framed as a company transformation to simplify the workforce structure, rather than purely a cost-cutting exercise.
Under the changes, its Product, Growth and Platform teams will be merged into a single Product organization. Canva also wants to reduce the number of specialist and management roles it has, incorporating those responsibilities into broader positions.
Third and finally, the company also wants to move closer to home. It seems Sydney will become the main location for more of Canva’s product development teams, hence the mention of relocation in Perkins’ message.
“We know relocating is a big decision for those being asked to consider it, and we’re committed to making the process as smooth as possible with comprehensive support,” Perkins promised.
The CEO also dropped the ‘office working’ bomb – while many tech giants have already enforced return-to-office mandates, Canva has largely supported hybrid working.
From January 2027, hybrid workers will be asked to work from the office two or three days per week, depending on what makes sense for those roles and locations.
Workers set to leave the company as a result of the changes will receive at least six months’ salary and twelve months of healthcare coverage, among other benefits. Canva isn’t asking for company-issued MacBooks back, either.
Departing ‘Canvanauts’ can also apply for $10,000 grants under the Canva Collective Fund to start their own business or community project – “we won’t take any ownership or equity in what they create,” Perkins confirmed.
As for the company itself, it recently confirmed 250 million monthly users and vast model improvements, including a 90% reduction in cost per task with 30x cheaper models that are 5x faster than before.
It also had 120 AI researchers developing in-house models as of September, and is on track to deliver a year-over-year growth in revenue this year.
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Craig Hale
