BUSINESSCompanies · · 2 min read · Source: Canva
Canva restructures: 22% of its workforce affected
On November 3, 2026, Canva CEO Melanie Perkins announced a sweeping restructuring affecting 1,271 people, or 22% of staff. Some will change roles or locations; others will leave the company.
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Key facts
- On November 3, 2026, Canva announced a restructuring affecting 1,271 people, or 22% of its workforce.
- Product, Growth and Platform merge into one product organization, and Sydney becomes the main hub for more product teams.
- From January, most hybrid employees are expected in the office about 2 to 3 days a week.
What Canva is changing
In an internal note that Canva published, Perkins outlines three changes:
- One product organization: Product, Growth and Platform are merging so teams can own bigger problems from start to finish.
- Less specialization, fewer layers: narrow specialist roles are folded into broader ones, and management layers are being cut.
- More in person: Sydney becomes the main home for more product teams. From January, most hybrid employees are expected in the office about 2 to 3 days a week.
Why
Perkins gives two reasons: new technology is changing what people create and what they expect from products, and Canva's growth slowed this year for the first time in a decade. She does not mention AI explicitly. heise still frames the move as part of the AI shift, as assistants like ChatGPT or Claude increasingly handle tasks that used to require specialized software. According to Bloomberg, Canva is also preparing for a possible stock market listing.
What it means for users
Canva has not announced any product changes; the app keeps working as usual. For those affected, Canva lists at least six months' salary, a year of continued healthcare where it currently provides it, career coaching and a fund offering US$10,000 grants to start something of their own (register interest by December 14).
What this means for you
- Even big design platforms feel the pressure as AI assistants take over parts of their job.
- Nothing changes for Canva users for now; only internal restructuring was announced.
- Smaller, broader teams are becoming the pattern across the software industry.
How to use this
If you use Canva for work, export your key templates and brand colors once. That keeps you flexible if pricing or features change after the restructuring.
Luigi's take
For many freelancers and small businesses, Canva is the default tool for social graphics and presentations. That's why this news is worth noting even though nothing changes for users today: when a tool this successful has to start over after years of growth, it shows how fast expectations of software are shifting.
My advice: no reason to panic or switch. But take a moment to check what you actually use in Canva, and whether you could export your templates and brand assets. For my own design work, I rely on my own templates and color codes so the brand doesn't depend on a single tool.
Source
Canva: An important update on our team
More sources
- heise online – Einordnung, Bericht zu Börsenplänen nach Bloomberg
This article was researched and written with AI assistance. Responsible: Luigi Lugmayr.
