Key facts
- Melanie Perkins said the restructure affects 1,271 people, about 22% of Canva's global workforce.
- Perkins said the changes are "without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history."
- Employees leaving receive at least six months of salary and can apply for US$10,000 grants to start ventures.
- Canva said the restructure collapses management layers and brings more teams together in person.
- Unlike Atlassian, Block and WiseTech, Canva did not mention AI in its restructure announcement.
Canva will cut or relocate 1,271 jobs, about 22% of its global workforce, chief executive Melanie Perkins said in an email to staff sent on a Wednesday, without giving the date. The Australian-founded design software company said the restructure focuses on collapsing management layers and bringing more teams together in person, and some employees will be asked to relocate to centralized hubs.
Perkins said the changes were "without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history" and that the company would be "saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today." She did not specify how many of the 1,271 affected employees will lose their jobs as distinct from those whose roles change or who are asked to move.
Employees leaving will receive at least six months of salary and retain healthcare coverage for a further 12 months in countries where workers receive that benefit, and can keep their laptops. They can also apply for US$10,000 (A$14,000) grants to start their own ventures.
Canva is one of Australia's most successful startups and has long been described as a candidate for a listing on the Nasdaq. It joins a series of restructures in the technology sector, including 1,600 redundancies at the software company Atlassian and job losses at Afterpay's owner Block and at WiseTech Global. Unlike those three companies, Canva did not mention AI in its restructure announcement.