Canva announces major restructuring and workforce reduction
Design platform Canva is cutting 1,271 jobs, or 22% of its workforce, as part of a strategic shift to reduce operational silos and costs.
Canva has initiated its first major workforce reduction in its 13-year history, impacting 1,271 employees through layoffs, role changes, or relocation requirements. CEO Melanie Perkins described the move as a restructuring effort designed to consolidate product, growth, and platform teams, aiming to restore a more agile, decentralized decision-making structure.
The restructuring follows mounting pressure to improve unit economics, particularly concerning the high costs associated with the company’s AI-driven product suite. Earlier this year, Canva downgraded its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%, citing that the cost of serving AI tasks via third-party frontier models was higher than anticipated. Since then, the company has prioritized developing in-house tools to lower these costs.
While Canva maintains a large user base of over 265 million monthly active users, the company is grappling with the financial implications of scaling AI features for a broad audience. The current layoffs mark a significant pivot as the firm attempts to streamline its business model and operational architecture ahead of a potential public offering.