Canva’s Major Shake-Up: Design Giant Cuts or Relocates Over 1,200 Jobs in “Hardest Moment”

Australian tech giant Canva is undergoing a massive restructure, with the design platform cutting or relocating more than 1,200 roles—representing roughly 22% of its global workforce.

Chief Executive and co-founder Melanie Perkins broke the news to staff in an email, describing the decision as “without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history.”

What’s Changing at Canva?

• The Scale: The restructure affects 1,271 positions globally, impacting employees who helped build the platform into a household name.
• The Strategy: The company aims to “collapse layers” and bring teams back together in person. While exact figures for layoffs versus relocations weren’t specified, staff affected will face choices regarding role changes or moving to centralized hubs.
• The Departure Package: Canva has announced a relatively robust exit support package for those leaving, including:
  • At least six months of salary.
  • Healthcare coverage continuation for an additional 12 months (where applicable).
  • Letting departing staff keep their laptops.
  • Access to US$10,000 (approx. A$14,000) grants to help them start their own ventures.

Part of a Broader Tech Wave

While Canva did not explicitly reference artificial intelligence in its restructuring announcement, the move mirrors a wider trend sweeping the technology sector. Software companies worldwide are scrambling to stay competitive against leaner AI disruptors while aggressively folding AI features into their own products.

Canva joins a growing list of major tech players executing deep cuts in Australia and beyond, including recent redundancies at Atlassian (1,600 jobs), Block (Afterpay’s parent company), and WiseTech Global.

Long touted as a prime candidate for a blockbuster listing on the Nasdaq, Canva now faces the sobering realities of maturing tech economics and shifting global workplace dynamics.

The restructuring at Canva is part of a broader structural shift sweeping the global technology sector. As software companies navigate the AI transition, three major trends are reshaping the startup and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) landscape:

1. The “SaaS-pocalypse” Threat vs. AI-Native Disruptors

Traditional software platforms built on manual, user-driven workflows—such as standard graphic design, basic content creation, and project management—face competition from AI-native tools that generate complete outputs instantly.

• The Pressure: Established platforms must maintain high profit margins while funding massive compute costs to integrate generative AI models.
• The Strategy: Companies like Canva, Wix, Elementor, and Artlist are forced to overhaul their business models to prove they can innovate faster than nimble, AI-first startups.

2. “Self-Funding” the AI Transition

Major tech firms are routinely executing workforce reductions to reallocate capital directly into AI infrastructure, compute power, and specialized talent.

• Prioritizing Compute Over Headcount: Instead of expanding overall headcount, capital is being redirected from traditional product management, support, and redundant operational layers toward AI engineering and GPU clusters.
• Industry Precedents:
  • Atlassian reduced its workforce by 1,600 roles to self-fund investments in enterprise AI tools.
  • Block streamlined operations by automating manual processes to operate with a leaner team structure.
  • Meta and Oracle shifted thousands of roles away from legacy divisions toward core AI infrastructure.

3. What This Means for Other Late-Stage Startups

For scale-ups and tech unicorns aiming for an IPO (like Canva, which has long been eyeing a Nasdaq listing):

• Higher Efficiency Bars for IPOs: Investors no longer evaluate tech companies purely on revenue growth. Wall Street demands high revenue per employee and lean operational structures before approving public listings.
• The Death of Middle Management: Terminology like Canva’s “collapsing layers” reflects a widespread push toward flatter organizations where AI agents and automated workflows handle routine coordination tasks.
• Shift to In-Person & Centralized Hubs: As companies shrink global footprints, many are curtailing fully remote policies to centralize product development in core engineering hubs.

Broader Outlook

While AI capabilities absorb functions previously requiring large human teams, startups that adapt quickly by embedding AI natively into their workflows are scaling revenue faster with significantly smaller teams. For legacy software builders, the current wave of restructures is the price of admission to stay relevant in an AI-first market.