Canva is undergoing a major operational restructuring that will impact 22% of its global workforce, as the design software company navigates slowing growth and a shifting technology landscape.
The comprehensive overhaul includes layoffs, changes to employee responsibilities, relocation requests, and a push toward greater in-person collaboration. While the company has not disclosed the exact number of employees who will lose their jobs, the move affects 1,271 positions out of its total workforce.
Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the changes in a message to employees on Tuesday, calling the restructuring the most difficult moment in the company’s 13-year history.
“This has been our hardest year yet, and as we shared earlier this year, our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade,” Perkins wrote.
Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the changes in a message to employees Tuesday. (Joel Carrett/AAP/via Reuters)
The restructuring comes as Canva adapts to rapidly evolving technology that is transforming how users create content and what they expect from software products. To prepare for its next phase of growth, the company stated it needs to reorganize around smaller, more autonomous teams.
Under the new structure, Canva will merge its product, growth, and platform teams into a unified product organization. Additionally, the company plans to streamline management layers, consolidate overlapping responsibilities, and transition narrower specialized roles into broader, more versatile positions.
The restructuring comes as Canva adapts to new technology that is changing how people create content. (Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
These organizational shifts will also impact where and how employees work. Sydney will become the primary hub for a larger portion of Canva’s product teams and select other departments.
Starting in January, most hybrid employees will be expected to work from the office two to three days per week, depending on their location. Perkins noted that Canva’s platform serves hundreds of millions of users globally, with teams spread across 37 countries.
The company has teams across 37 countries. (Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
For those departing the company, Canva has outlined a comprehensive support package. Severance packages will include at least six months of salary, inclusive of legally required entitlements, regardless of the employee’s location. Additionally, the company will provide 12 months of continued health care coverage in countries where it currently offers this benefit.
Further support measures include removing a one-year vesting cliff for employees who joined within the past year, alongside career coaching, interview preparation, and other job-search assistance. Canva will also offer $10,000 grants to departing employees who wish to start a business or pursue a community project through a new Canva Collective Fund, without seeking ownership or equity in those ventures.
Canva is expected to share additional details regarding the restructuring and its future roadmap during a company-wide meeting scheduled for November 10.
