Canva’s First Growth Slowdown in a Decade Triggers a 1,271-Role Restructure

Canva is restructuring 1,271 roles, or 22% of its global workforce. The changes include job cuts, new roles for some staff, and relocations to central hubs.

Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the Canva restructure in a note to staff on Wednesday. She did not say how many affected employees will lose their jobs.

Canva Layoffs and Relocations Hit 1,271 Roles

Perkins wrote that Canva’s growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. She concluded that small adjustments would not be enough to fix it.

“To set ourselves up for the next decade, we need to refound Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions, take ownership and focus on what matters most for our community,” she said.

As part of that plan:

• Product, Growth and Platform will combine into one product organization. 
• Canva will also cut layers in its structure and merge narrow specialist jobs into broader roles.
• Sydney will become the main base for more product teams.

The note credits new technology for changing what users expect but never mentions AI. However, Canva’s August update to shareholders explains why its growth outlook weakened. 

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Canva’s Valuation Took a Hit Before the Job Cuts

In August, Perkins told shareholders that Canva had cut its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%. Perkins told Fortune that demand for new AI features had far outpaced the company’s expectations.

“Rather than broadly rolling out a product before the underlying economics were ready, we decided to slow the rollout while we rebuilt the architecture, reduced unit costs and strengthened the business model,” she noted.

Meanwhile, Blackbird lowered its Canva valuation by 17%, from $42 billion to $34.9 billion. US fund managers T. Rowe Price and Franklin Templeton also marked down their Canva holdings.

Canva layoffs add to a wider wave across the software sector. Atlassian eliminated 1,600 jobs in March, while WiseTech Global announced 2,000 cuts. In the US, Microsoft and Disney have also moved to reduce headcount in recent weeks.

Layoffs.fyi data shows 344 tech companies have laid off 139,004 employees so far in 2026.

Perkins will address staff at a company all-hands on November 10. Whether the leaner structure revives growth could shape the timing of a Canva IPO, which has no set date. 

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