Canva Layoffs: Restructure Hits 1,271 Roles as Growth Slows

Canva, the Australian online design platform, is restructuring its workforce, with about 1,271 roles, roughly 22% of staff, being cut, changed or relocated. Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the plan to employees on November 4, 2026, saying growth had slowed for the first time in a decade. It is the biggest shake-up in the company’s 13-year history and comes as AI tools reshape how people make designs.

What happened?

In a memo to staff, Perkins said 2026 had been Canva’s hardest year so far and that the company had considered other options before deciding that small changes would not be enough. She described the restructure as the hardest moment in the company’s history, according to ABC News and Forbes Australia.

About 1,271 roles are affected. Forbes Australia puts that at around 22% of Canva’s more than 5,000 employees. Not every affected role is being eliminated: some staff will be made redundant, others will have their jobs changed, and some will be asked to move to central hubs. HRD reports that Canva has not said how many roles will be cut outright, and that this is the company’s first redundancy round.

Perkins framed the change as a return to how Canva used to work. She told staff the company needs “small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions,” ABC News reported.

What is changing at Canva?

The restructure changes how the company is organised, where people work and how often they come in:

• One product organisation. Canva is merging its product, growth and platform teams into a single product group and cutting layers of management, according to TechCrunch and HRD.
• Broader roles. TechCrunch reports that the company is reducing “subspecialisation,” so employees may take on wider responsibilities.
• Sydney as the product base. Sydney will become the main home for product teams, and some staff may be asked to relocate there. Canva works across 37 countries.
• More office time. From January 2027, most hybrid employees are expected in the office two to three days a week. Forbes Australia reports that remote-first policies are being ended.

Why is Canva cutting jobs?

The headline reason is slower growth. Perkins told staff that growth had slowed for the first time in ten years. TechCrunch and Forbes Australia report that Canva lowered its revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%, partly because of the cost of running AI features.

That cost problem is specific to Canva’s business model. Most of its hundreds of millions of users do not pay, so every AI image or design they generate costs the company money. Forbes Australia reports that some product launches were delayed for this reason. Canva has been building its own AI models, including a foundation model called Craft, to cut its reliance on outside providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.

Competition is also rising. TechCrunch notes that Canva faces newer AI design and presentation startups, as well as general chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini that can create posters and slides on request. Rival design tools are pushing AI hard too, as seen in Figma’s latest quarterly results and the run-up to Adobe MAX 2026.

How has Canva’s valuation changed?

Canva started 2026 valued at about US$40 billion, according to Forbes Australia. Several investors have since marked their stakes down:

Investor	Reported change	Implied value
Blackbird (largest venture backer)	Cut 17% in August 2026	About US$34.9 billion
T. Rowe Price	Cut 20% to US$1,189 a share	About US$30.4 billion (as of August 31)
Franklin Templeton	Marked down its holding	Not disclosed

These are investors’ own estimates, not a new funding round. A Blackbird spokesperson told Forbes Australia the firm backs Canva’s decision.

What do departing employees get?

Canva has set out a support package for people who leave. Reported terms include:

• at least six months’ salary;
• health and wellbeing support, including 12 months of healthcare where Canva provides it;
• keeping their work laptop;
• removal of the one-year equity vesting cliff for some recent hires;
• access to the new Canva Collective Fund, which offers grants of up to US$10,000 for people who want to start a business or community project.

Why it matters for the design industry

Canva is one of the best-known design tools in the world, used by small businesses, schools, marketers and creators who are not trained designers. Its slowdown shows that even a hugely popular product faces pressure when AI can produce a decent poster or slide deck from a single prompt.

The cuts also fit a wider pattern in Australian tech. Atlassian cut about 1,600 jobs earlier in 2026, and WiseTech Global announced 1,700 cuts, according to HRD. Investors are increasingly worried that AI will undercut traditional software businesses.

What happens next?

The new structure and office rules take effect from January 2027. Canva has not given a full timeline for the redundancies or said which teams outside Sydney will shrink most. The bigger test is whether its own AI models, such as Craft, can lower costs enough to restore faster growth while keeping its free tier attractive.