Canva cuts 22% of its workforce as growth slows
Design software maker Canva is laying off 1,271 employees after its growth slowed for the first time in a decade. Management is restructuring teams and moving to hybrid work.
Canva, the design software company whose platform is used by hundreds of millions of people, is cutting 22% of its staff, or 1,271 employees. Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the move on November 4, citing a slowdown in growth that she described as the first in a decade.
In a note to employees, Perkins said the past thirteen years had taken the company from an idea in a pitch deck to a large platform, but that success in its first chapter does not guarantee success in the next. She called this the company's hardest year so far.
Organizational changes
Canva is reshuffling its organizational chart and merging its product, growth and platform teams to reduce communication friction. It is also scaling back subspecialisation, meaning employees may be asked to take on broader responsibilities. In addition, the company is shifting to hybrid work and asking staff to come into the office a few days a week.
AI costs and competition
Canva has been shipping its own AI models to cut costs and reduce reliance on third-party models. Even so, it had to lower its revenue growth forecast to 20% from 30% because of ballooning AI costs. Earlier this year, its early investors also cut the company's valuation to about $35 billion.
The company also faces growing competition from AI startups and general-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini, whose image generation features make it easy for people to put together posters and presentations.
