Canva unveils mass job cuts in ‘hardest moment’ of its history

More than a thousand jobs will be impacted in a major restructure at design giant Canva, with some staff to lose their roles and others asked to relocate to centralised hubs.

Co-founder and chief executive Melanie Perkins told staff on Wednesday the Sydney design company needed to “refound Canva” and return to small, empowered teams after its growth slowed this year for the first time in a decade.

“This is without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history,” she wrote.

“After exploring a wide range of alternatives, I’ve come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won’t be enough. 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.”

Canva will merge its product, growth and platform teams into a single product organisation and cut management layers. Sydney will become the primary home for more product teams, and hybrid staff will be expected in the office two to three days a week from January.

The shake-up comes as investor fears that AI will undercut software businesses have hammered design companies. Shares in rival Figma more than halved in 2026 to the end of April, despite strong revenue growth.

Blackbird, Canva’s biggest venture backer, cut its valuation of the company by 17 per cent to $US34.9 billion in August, with Airtree making the same cut from the $US42 billion set in a 2025 employee share sale. Canva’s own internal valuation fell to $US31 billion, this masthead revealed in August.

Departing staff will receive at least six months’ salary, 12 months of healthcare where Canva provides it, and can keep their work MacBooks. They can also apply for $US10,000 ($14,500) grants to start their own ventures.