Canva is restructuring 1,271 roles—22% of its entire workforce—in the Australian design platform’s first mass layoffs in thirteen years. Chief executive and co-founder Melanie Perkins confirmed the move in an email to staff, calling it the hardest moment in the company’s history.
Not every affected role is being eliminated outright. Perkins said some people will see changes to their jobs or be asked to relocate to centralised hubs. Timing will differ across the 37 countries where Canva operates. The company has not said how many posts will be removed completely.
Why Canva is cutting now
The Canva layoffs follow a clear slowdown in growth. Management had planned for about 30% revenue growth in 2026; the firm now expects roughly 20% this year. That comes after 38% growth in 2025 and 45% the year before. Annualised revenue reached $3.69 billion, against an internal target of $5.2 billion.
Perkins said AI disruption is central to the miss. New image-generation tools from OpenAI, Google and others let users make designs from simple text prompts, undercutting the template-led model Canva built its business on. The company itself invested early in AI—buying Leonardo.ai and building its Magic Studio suite—yet those same capabilities now power direct rivals.
“We started with our mission and future goals, then considered the structures, skills and locations needed to achieve them,” Perkins said, describing how leaders decided which roles to change. “Only then did we look at what this would mean for individual roles.”
Support for departing staff
Workers who leave are being offered a comparatively strong package: at least six months’ salary wherever they are based, health insurance for 12 months where that applies, the right to keep their company MacBooks, and a $10,000 grant toward starting their own firms.
The Canva layoffs sit alongside similar AI-linked restructuring elsewhere in tech. Atlassian recently cut 1,600 jobs, and Block and WiseTech Global have also reduced headcount.
What comes next
Canva has framed the shake-up as a reset of skills and locations for its next phase, not only a cost cut. Staff still waiting for decisions should watch local timing across the 37-country footprint. Users of the product should expect the company to lean harder into AI features as it tries to close the gap with prompt-based design tools.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Canva ne apne 22% staff ko layoffs ya role change ka face karwaya hai—pehli bari mass cuts 13 saalon mein. Company ki growth slow ho gai hai kyunke AI tools ab seedha competition de rahe hain. Jo log ja rahe hain unhein kam az kam chheh mahine ki salary aur kuch extra support mil rahi hai. Pakistan mein Canva use karne walon ke liye service chalegi, lekin company ab zyada AI pe focus karegi.
