Canva restructures 22% of its workforce, 1,271 roles, as growth slows for the first time in a decade

What happened? Canva is restructuring in a way that affects 1,271 people, about 22% of its workforce. In a memo to staff on Wednesday 4 November (Sydney time), co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said some employees will have their roles changed or be asked to relocate to central hubs, and others will lose their jobs. She called it "the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history".

Why now? Perkins told staff that 2026 has been Canva's "hardest year yet" and that growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. Business Insider reports that in August the company cut its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%. Perkins framed the changes as a need to "refound Canva" around small, empowered teams with fewer handovers and layers.

What changes: Canva will merge its Product, Growth and Platform teams into one product organisation and remove management layers. Sydney becomes the primary home for more product teams, and from January most hybrid staff will be expected in the office two to three days a week. The ABC reports the cuts are not about replacing people with AI, but about setting the company up to build AI products.

For those leaving: Departing staff get at least six months' salary, 12 months of continued healthcare where Canva provides it, and can keep their work laptops. They can also apply for US$10,000 grants to start their own ventures.

The signal: Canva is one of the world's most valuable private software companies and a long-time IPO candidate. A cut of this size at a company that was growing fast until this year is a sharp sign of how much pressure AI is putting on established software businesses to reorganise.

Read more: Sydney Morning Herald, Business Insider (full memo), ABC News, Capital Brief, Forbes Australia

Image: Canva co-founders Cameron Adams, Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht at Canva Create. Credit: Canva / Forbes Australia