Canva layoffs: a restructure touches 22% of staff as growth slows

In Sydney and beyond, Canva staff opened a message this week that will change their working lives. Some will keep their jobs in a new shape. Some will be asked to move. Some will say goodbye.

The Canva layoffs are part of a wider restructure. Canva, the design app hundreds of millions of people use for posters and slides, says the changes affect 1,271 people, about 22% of its staff. That is everyone touched, not the number losing their jobs. Canva has not said how many will leave.

The reason matters as much as the number. Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins told staff that “our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade,” in a note quoted by The Verge. For one of the best-known software success stories of the past ten years, that is a rare admission. It is why these Canva job cuts are worth understanding beyond the headline.

One product team, fewer layers, more time in Sydney

According to Information Age and Implicator, which both quote Canva’s note, the main changes are:

• One product organisation. Product, growth and platform teams merge into a single group, with fewer management layers and fewer narrow specialist roles.
• Central hubs. Sydney becomes the main home for more product teams and specialists. Some staff will be asked to relocate.
• More office time. From January 2027, most hybrid staff will work in their local office two to three days a week.

Perkins wrote, as quoted by The Verge, that for some people this will mean “changes to their roles or being asked to relocate to centralised hubs.” She added: “Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today.” Implicator quotes her calling it “the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history.”

What Canva is offering the people who leave

Canva has set out what those who leave will get: at least six months’ salary wherever they are, including statutory entitlements. They also get career support and keep their work MacBooks. Canva is also offering US$10,000 grants to people who want to start a business. Implicator reports that interest must be registered by 14 December, and that Canva will cover 12 months of healthcare where it already provides it.

Is AI behind the Canva layoffs?

Not directly, by Canva’s own account. Perkins did not blame AI. She said new technology is changing “what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use,” as Information Age reports. In plain terms, free AI tools that make an image from one sentence now compete with apps like Canva. Outlets covering the story point to that pressure on design software makers.

There is also history here. Implicator, citing The Age, says this is Canva’s first company-wide redundancy round. Smaller cuts came before: ChannelNews reported in 2025 that 10 of its 12 technical writers were let go, and Implicator reports 32 finance roles were cut in 2026. Information Age reports Canva’s valuation was recently marked down, and Canva says it is in no rush to list on a stock market.

Rumour: Implicator, citing an unnamed source, reports Canva cut its revenue-growth forecast by a third, to 20%. Canva has not confirmed this.

If you work at Canva, use it, or work in tech

For the people affected, the next weeks will be hard; six months’ pay gives some room to plan. If you are offered a move to a hub, it is fair to ask for time and clear terms.

If you use Canva, nothing changes today. The note, as reported, announces no product or price changes.

If you work in software, this fits a wider pattern. Barclays tied part of its job cuts to AI, and Microsoft offered staff a paid way out.

A hard reset, judged by how it treats people

On balance, this looks less like a company in trouble and more like one admitting that its old shape no longer fits. Perkins wrote that she had “come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won’t be enough.” Fewer layers and smaller teams can help a company move faster. The support package is, by tech standards, a serious attempt to soften the blow.

The harder questions are real, though. Relocation and more office days can quietly push out people who cannot move, often parents or carers. And Canva’s silence on how many jobs go leaves 1,271 people guessing. Clarity would be the kindest next step.

Watch for three things: how many of the 1,271 actually leave, whether Canva’s growth picks up in 2027, and whether other design software makers follow with their own restructures.