Canva announces major job cuts after 'our hardest year yet
Australian design software giant Canva has announced a massive business overhaul affecting 22 percent of its global workforce, spanning job cuts, role changes, and relocations.
- Core Development: Australian design software giant Canva has announced a massive business overhaul affecting 22 percent of its global workforce, spanning job cuts, role changes, and relocations.
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Canva announces major job cuts after 'our hardest year yet'
Australian design software giant Canva has announced a massive business overhaul affecting 22 percent of its global workforce, spanning job cuts, role changes, and relocations. Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Melanie Perkins described the announcement as
in a detailed memo sent to staff on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. The Information Age noted that the software platform would not immediately confirm the precise headcount expected to face outright redundancy versus role adjustments."without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history"
Melanie Perkins, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, via Yahoo Finance
Media additions
The restructuring touches 1,271 employees across Canva's global operations, as reported by Yahoo Finance. According to Forbes Australia, the company entered the year valued significantly higher with firm ambitions for a blockbuster Nasdaq market debut, but has since faced severe headwinds. Investment titan T. Rowe Price marked down the value of its Canva shares by 20 percent, resulting in an implied valuation of US$30.4 billion as of August 31. Similar valuation cuts came from institutional backers including Franklin Templeton and local giant Blackbird Ventures, which trimmed its internal valuation by 17 percent. Backing the move, a Blackbird spokesperson stated that Canva remains well positioned to benefit from future technological capabilities, according to Forbes Australia.
Industry observers link the pressures directly to surging competition and rising infrastructure costs. As The Guardian reported, the software sector has faced a wave of restructures as firms fight to stay competitive against cheaper artificial intelligence disrupters while embedding their own AI tools. Canva itself reorganised its platform around artificial intelligence under the banner of Canva 2.0, but faced delayed product roll-outs due to the financial burden of serving AI compute power to its largely non-paying user base. Seeking efficiency, the company recently revealed its own foundation model, Craft, designed to serve frontier-grade AI more efficiently than third-party models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Co-founder Cliff Obrecht noted that the model represents a new revenue stream by giving third-party developers access, as reported by Forbes Australia.
The organizational changes aim to streamline operations by collapsing layers, reducing subspecialisation, and combining product, growth, and platform divisions into one unified product organization. Furthermore, the company is shifting its geographic footprint. Sydney will become the primary home for a larger share of product teams and specialized roles. Alongside these relocations, hybrid employees will face tighter attendance mandates, required to work from local offices two to three days per week starting in January 2027, reversing earlier flexible remote policies.
| Metric / Item | Previous Estimate / Peak | Recent Status / Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation (Blackbird / Airtree backers) | A$60bn ($41.8bn; £31.1bn) | A$49bn |
| Valuation (T. Rowe Price) | US$40bn | US$30.4bn |
| Revenue Growth Forecast | 30% | 20% |
The tech industry at large has experienced similar contractions. Major technology players have undertaken aggressive staffing rollbacks to fund heavy AI expenditures, including substantial cuts at Atlassian, Block, WiseTech Global, and Microsoft, according to reporting compiled across Bbc News and AOL.
To soften the blow for departing personnel, Canva announced a robust support package. Affected staff will receive at least six months of salary inclusive of statutory entitlements, one year of continued healthcare coverage where applicable, professional career coaching, and LinkedIn Premium access. outgoing workers are permitted to keep their corporate Apple MacBooks. In a unique move to foster entrepreneurship, the company established the Canva Collective Fund, offering US$10,000 grants to departing employees wanting to launch new ventures without taking equity.
What to watch next
- 10 November 2026: Canva will host an all-company meeting to address employee questions and outline the path ahead.
- 11 November 2026: Organization-specific all-hands meetings will commence to brief individual teams on structural changes.
- 14 December 2026: The registration deadline for departing staff to apply for the US$10,000 Canva Collective Fund startup grants.
- January 2027: New office attendance policies take effect, mandating hybrid workers to log two to three days in local hubs weekly.
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Australian design software giant Canva has announced a massive business overhaul affecting 22 percent of its global workforce, spanning job cuts, role changes, and relocations.
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This report covers critical events in our Business beat. Independent reporting monitors related UK statements, regulatory shifts, and public responses as further verified details emerge.
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When was this report published?
This briefing was published on November 4, 2026 and is permanently cataloged in the Newsarchy UK Business archives.
