Canva restructures 22 percent of staff as CEO Perkins calls to ‘refound’ the company

Canva, one of Australia’s best-known technology companies, is restructuring 22 percent of its workforce — 1,271 people — in sweeping changes announced by co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins, who told staff on Wednesday that it had been the company’s “hardest year yet.”

The changes extend well beyond layoffs. In her note to staff, Perkins wrote that some employees will face changes to their roles, be asked to relocate to centralised hubs, or be laid off. “Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today,” she said. Sydney will become the “primary home” for more of Canva’s product teams, as well as for roles in other specialties where shared context and close collaboration are especially important. The company has staff in 37 countries, and the push to centralise represents a significant shift for a workforce that has operated with considerable geographic flexibility.

‘Refound Canva’

Perkins wrote that the company needs to “refound Canva,” returning to its roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions and take ownership. “After exploring a wide range of alternatives, I’ve come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won’t be enough,” she told employees. “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.” As part of the overhaul, Canva is bringing its Product, Growth, and Platform teams together into one product organization, which Perkins described as simplifying layers and consolidating overlapping responsibilities. The reorganization is intended to streamline decision-making and reduce internal bureaucracy as the company confronts a competitive landscape being reshaped by artificial intelligence.

Perkins called the restructuring “without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history.” She described a stark reversal. Growth had slowed for the first time in a decade, a shift she attributed in part to the rapid advance of artificial intelligence. “New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use,” Perkins said in her note on Wednesday. The company’s value has reportedly dropped over concerns about the impact of AI on its business and the cost of incorporating the technology into its platforms. Earlier this year, two of Canva’s backers, Blackbird Ventures and Airtree, reportedly downgraded its valuation from A$60bn at the end of last year to about A$49bn. Canva also reportedly cut its own internal valuation amid soaring AI expenses related to the rollout of new products. The cuts reflect the financial pressures facing one of Australia’s most prominent technology companies as it invests in AI capabilities to keep pace with new design tools entering the market.

Severance and return-to-office

Employees leaving Canva will receive at least six months of salary, 12 months of healthcare coverage, and career support resources, the company said. The restructuring reaches beyond departures. Starting in January, most hybrid employees will be expected to spend two to three days in an office each week, depending on what makes sense in their area. The policy tightens Canva’s approach to remote work for a company whose staff is distributed across dozens of countries and whose workforce has expanded considerably since its early days as a Sydney-based start-up.

The announcement came a day after Squarespace announced layoffs affecting 19 percent of its staff. Perkins, who left university at 19 to found her first venture, launched Canva in 2013. The company offers templates and tools to help users without technical skills or a design background create professional-looking graphics and presentations, from wedding invitations to business pitch decks. It has grown into one of the most recognizable names in the Australian technology sector.