Australian design giant Canva has announced a significant workforce reduction, confirming the layoff of 1,271 employees, or roughly 22% of its global team. CEO and co-founder Melanie Perkins described the move as the most difficult decision in the company’s 13-year history, citing a strategic need to restructure operations amidst a shifting technological landscape and cooling economic growth.
The company, which operates in 37 countries, is moving to consolidate its product, platform, and growth teams under a unified structure. By streamlining management layers and reducing overlapping responsibilities, leadership hopes to return to a more agile, decentralized team model. This transition also marks a move away from the company’s former commitment to fully remote work, with most hybrid employees expected to return to offices for two to three days each week starting in January.
## A Comprehensive Support Package
In an effort to mitigate the personal impact of these cuts, Canva has introduced a severance package that stands out for its generosity in the current tech climate. Beyond a minimum of six months’ salary, the company is allowing departing staff to keep their corporate-issued MacBook Pros—a gesture designed to ensure employees maintain the necessary hardware for their ongoing job searches or new ventures.
The package also includes a 12-month extension of healthcare coverage, a year of LinkedIn Premium access, and dedicated one-on-one career coaching. Perhaps most notably, the company has launched the “Canva Collective Fund,” which provides grants of $10,000 to former employees looking to launch their own businesses or community projects. In a departure from typical corporate severance, Canva has confirmed it will hold zero equity or ownership stakes in these ventures, effectively investing in the future of its former talent pool without strings attached.
## Navigating the AI Creative Shift
The layoffs occur against a backdrop of intense pressure from the generative AI boom. As tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, and various automated presentation generators reshape the creative software industry, traditional platforms are being forced to adapt or risk obsolescence. Canva has aggressively pivoted its product roadmap toward AI-integrated workflows, but the transition has not been without friction.
Investor sentiment has also reflected these challenges. In August, major backer Blackbird reportedly adjusted Canva’s valuation downward by 17% to $34.9 billion. While the company remains a dominant force in visual design, this restructuring indicates that even the most successful tech platforms are facing a “new normal.” The goal of this reorganization is to sharpen focus on high-impact AI features while simplifying a corporate structure that had grown complex during a decade of rapid, uninterrupted expansion.
## The Future of the Design Workforce
For the broader technology industry, the Canva news highlights a recurring theme: the necessity of rebalancing headcount as the initial “post-pandemic” growth spurt stabilizes and AI begins to automate routine creative tasks. As workflows evolve, companies are finding that they need different skill sets, moving away from legacy management hierarchies toward leaner teams capable of navigating rapid software shifts.
For those departing Canva, the company is attempting to leverage its professional network to assist in the transition. An “alumni talent directory” is being established and shared with partners, investors, and industry peers to assist in job placement. By providing both financial runway through the Collective Fund and technical support via coaching and equipment retention, Canva is attempting to set a new standard for how major tech firms handle the difficult process of downsizing during a period of industrial transformation.
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