Canva announces major job cuts after ‘hardest year yet’; CEO sends layoff email

Canva, the Australian design software company has announced a major job cuts at the company. This restructuring effort of the company will affect 1,271 employees, or about 22% of its global workforce, with co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins describing the move as "the hardest moment" in the company's 13-year history.

The graphic design platform revealed the changes in a lengthy message to employees that was later published on the company's newsroom website. The announcement comes as Canva grapples with slowing growth and seeks to reshape its organisation for what it calls its next chapter. Perkins apologised to those affected for the pain and disruption.

CEO calls it Canva's toughest year

In the note, Perkins said the company had reached a difficult conclusion after months of reviewing its future direction.

She acknowledged that the restructuring would result in layoffs, role changes, and relocation requests for some employees. "This has been our hardest year yet," Perkins wrote, adding that Canva's growth had slowed for the first time in a decade. According to the CEO, the company explored several alternatives before determining that smaller adjustments would not be enough to prepare the business for long-term success.

She said the company needed to "refound Canva" by returning to its roots of smaller, empowered teams with greater ownership and autonomy.

Canva layoffs: 22% of workforce affected

Canva said 1,271 people, representing roughly 22% of its workforce, will be affected by the changes. While some employees will leave the company, others may be asked to relocate to centralised hubs or transition into new roles. Perkins noted that the restructuring would impact people across teams and geographies.

The company currently operates across 37 countries, with employees spread across a global network of offices and remote locations.

Support package for affected employees

The company has outlined a support package for affected workers. Canva said departing employees will receive at least six months of salary, including statutory entitlements, regardless of location. Other benefits include up to 12 months of healthcare coverage where applicable, career coaching, interview preparation, LinkedIn Premium subscriptions and access to an alumni talent network.

Employees leaving the company will also be allowed to keep their Canva-issued MacBooks.

In addition, the company is launching a Canva Collective Fund that will provide grants of US$10,000 to eligible departing employees interested in starting businesses or community projects.

Major organisational overhaul planned

As part of the restructuring, Canva will merge its Product, Growth and Platform divisions into a single Product Organisation. The company said the move is intended to reduce internal handovers, simplify decision-making and provide teams with clearer ownership over projects.

Canva is also reducing specialisation across certain functions, collapsing management layers and consolidating overlapping responsibilities.

The company believes broader roles will allow teams to take end-to-end responsibility for their work rather than operating within narrower areas of expertise.Another key change involves location strategy. Canva said Sydney will become the primary base for more of its product teams, and some employees will be asked to relocate. Beginning in January, most hybrid employees will also be expected to spend two to three days each week in the office

Read Canva CEO Melanie Perkins’ email to employees here

Hi everyone,Today, I have some profoundly difficult news to share.After months of thinking through how to set Canva up for the next chapter, we have made the incredibly hard decision to make significant changes to how we’re organised, where some of our teams are based, and the roles and skills we need for the future.This means 1,271 people, or 22% of Canva, will be impacted. For some people, this will mean changes to their roles or being asked to relocate to centralised hubs. Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today.This is without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history. Behind every decision is someone we care deeply about, and I know the consequences will be very real for those directly affected, their families, friends and teammates.I’m deeply sorry for the pain and disruption this will cause for everyone affected. While nothing can make this news easier, we will do everything we possibly can to support everyone affected. I want to explain as openly as I can why we're making these changes, how we reached these decisions, and, most importantly, how we will care for the people affected today.Why we’re making these changesWe've spoken a lot about how quickly the world is changing. New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use.Over the past thirteen years, we’ve turned a dream in a pitch deck into a platform used by hundreds of millions of people. None of it would have been possible without the talent, imagination and care of every single person who has been part of this journey. Yet success in our first chapter doesn’t guarantee success in the next. This has been our hardest year yet, and as we shared earlier this year, our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade.After exploring a wide range of alternatives, I've come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won’t be enough. To set ourselves up for the next decade, we need to refound Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions, take ownership and focus on what matters most for our community.It also means making some of the hardest decisions we've ever faced, including saying goodbye to people who have helped make Canva what it is today. For that, I am deeply sorry.What we’re changingWe're making three changes to bring more of what has made Canva special back into how we work.#1. We're simplifying how we come together to build CanvaAs we've grown, more of our work has become organised around team structures and narrow areas of ownership. Improving one part of our product often requires navigating between Product, Growth and Platform, with more handovers and coordination than necessary. This has made it harder to take ownership of bigger problems and to build a deeply unified product for our community. We’ve tried many ways to solve this over the years, but it’s become clear we need to revisit our underlying structure.To do that, we’re bringing Product, Growth and Platform together into one Product Org and changing the way we work to provide clearer ownership, greater autonomy and flexibility to tackle our most important goals. We want to get back to spending more time building, and less time navigating how work gets done.#2. We’re reducing subspecialisation and collapsing layers to broaden ownershipOver time, we've divided work across more and more subspecialties and teams. While this has helped us build valuable expertise, it's also fragmented ownership and made it harder to see the full picture, with different teams responsible for many pieces of the same work.We're reducing this fragmentation and incorporating narrower subspecialties into broader roles so teams have more ownership of goals from start to finish. We're also simplifying layers, consolidating overlapping responsibilities, and ensuring teams have the right mix of skills and experience for the chapter ahead.#3. We’re co-locating closely connected teams and increasing in-person collaborationWorking across countries has brought enormous benefits and talent, but it’s also made it harder to bring the right people together to solve complex problems. We’ll continue investing in our global team, particularly where being close to our community, customers and markets matters most.At the same time, Sydney will become the primary home for more of our product teams, as well as roles in other Specialties where shared context and close collaboration are especially important. 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.We also want to bring more teams together in person to build trust, learn from one another and strengthen the connections that make Canva special. From January, we expect most Hybrid Canvanauts to spend around 2 to 3 days in the office each week, depending on what makes sense in your area.How we approached these decisionsI know many of you will have questions about how we made these decisions. We began with one question: what does Canva need to do to succeed in the chapter ahead?We started with our mission and future goals, then considered the structures, skills and locations needed to achieve them. Only then did we look at what this would mean for individual roles. While understanding how we reached these decisions won't make them any less painful, I want to emphasise that they are not a reflection of the talent, care and dedication people have brought to Canva, their skills or the enormous contributions they've made along the way.Supporting those who are leavingWe know everyone's circumstances are different, and while nothing can make today’s news easy, we've tried to reflect those different needs in the financial, career and wellbeing support we're providing to everyone affected:•Everyone will receive at least six months of salary, inclusive of statutory entitlements, regardless of location.
•Removing the one-year vesting cliff for those who joined in the past year.
•Twelve months of continued healthcare coverage in countries where we currently provide this.
•Twelve months of Canva Care (our EAP), with this coverage also extending to family members.
•Dedicated career support, including one-on-one coaching, interview preparation, and one year of LinkedIn Premium. We're also dedicating a significant portion of our Talent Acquisition team to helping people review their resumes and practice for interviews to find their next opportunity.
•An opt-in alumni talent directory that we'll proactively share with our investors, partners, and wider industry network to help connect departing Canvanauts with new roles.
•Everyone leaving will be able to keep their Canva MacBook as we know not everyone has a personal laptop.
We’re also launching the Canva Collective Fund, providing US$10,000 grants to departing Canvanauts who want to start something of their own. Whether it’s starting a business or doing something meaningful for their local community, the fund is designed to help get those ideas off the ground. Everyone leaving as part of these changes will have until the 14 of December to register their interest, and we won’t take any ownership or equity in what they create.What happens nextOur immediate priority is to make time for the conversations with everyone directly impacted by these changes. Those impacted will receive a calendar invite for an individual meeting with a senior leader in their area to discuss the next steps and support available should they wish to attend.With teams across 37 countries, we'll need to follow different local requirements and processes, which means the timing and way these conversations happen may vary depending on where people are based.We also want to give everyone the time to process this news and say goodbye in their own way. Everyone leaving Canva will continue to have access to Slack and Gmail until the end of the week, so they can choose when and how to share the news with their teams. This means you may not know exactly how your team is changing straight away, and we ask everyone to respect the privacy of those having these conversations. Leads will share more about the changes to different areas by the end of the week.We've put together some answers to common questions and everything you need to know. There's no need to read through everything right now, but we hope they'll be helpful whenever you're ready. Next week, we’ll come together for a Company All Hands on November 10th to talk through these changes, answer questions, and share more about the path ahead. We’ve asked Org Leads to wait until after this to bring their teams together, with Org All Hands taking place from November 11th.To everyone continuing at Canva: I know this news will be incredibly difficult, especially as we say goodbye to friends and teammates who have been such an important part of our journey. Please look after yourselves and one another and be there for those who are leaving. We’re also cancelling non-critical meetings for the rest of the week, and encourage anyone who needs some time and space to process this news to take the day off. There’s no need to log this as leave.To those who will be leaving Canva: I wish I could adequately express how grateful I am for everything you've contributed. The Canva that exists today is the result of your hard work, creativity, passion and care. Hundreds of millions of people around the world have been empowered by what you've helped build, and I hope you know just how much of a difference you've made. I am deeply sorry this is how your chapter at Canva is ending. Please know these decisions do not diminish your talent, the value of your contributions, or the difference you've made here. We will do everything we can to support you in what comes next, and I hope the work we do from here will be worthy of what you've helped build.Mel