Canva Restructures Operations and Eliminates More Than One Thousand Jobs

Design software provider Canva announced a major corporate restructuring that will affect 22 percent of its global workforce, impacting 1,271 employees through job losses, relocations, or role changes.

Chief Executive Officer Melanie Perkins revealed the changes in a memo sent to staff, noting that the company altered its revenue growth forecast from 30 percent to 20 percent earlier in the year.

The restructuring comes as established software companies face mounting competition from cheaper artificial intelligence tools while attempting to embed similar technology into their own platforms.

Said Melanie Perkins, the co-founder and chief executive of Canva: "For some people, this will mean changes to their roles or being asked to relocate to centralised hubs."

She added: "Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today."

Perkins also described the measure in her memo as "without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history" after a year of slowing growth.

The company plans to merge its Product, Growth, and Platform teams into a single organization while making Sydney the primary base for more of its product teams.

Starting in January, the company will also require most hybrid employees to work from an office for 2 to 3 days each week.

Employees who lose their positions will receive at least six months of salary and 12 months of healthcare coverage where applicable.

Departing workers will additionally be allowed to keep their laptops and apply for grants of 10,000 dollars to start new ventures.

The Guardian reported that Canva did not explicitly mention artificial intelligence in its restructuring announcement, unlike several other technology firms undergoing similar layoffs.

The company has not specified the exact proportion of the 1,271 affected individuals who will face termination rather than relocation or reassignment.