Canva Lays Off over 1,200 People Amid Slowing Growth

Canva is eliminating 1,271 jobs, or 22% of its workforce, as growth slows after a decade of expansion. CEO Melanie Perkins described the year as the company’s hardest yet and said its previous success does not ensure it can thrive in its next phase. The cuts accompany a major restructuring: product, growth, and platform teams will be combined to reduce communication delays, while employees may be expected to take on broader duties rather than focus on narrow specialties. Canva is also shifting to hybrid work, with staff required to work from an office several days a week.

The layoffs come as Canva contends with rising artificial-intelligence expenses and stronger competition. Although it is developing its own AI models to lower costs and reduce dependence on outside providers, the company cut its revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20% in response to escalating AI costs. Earlier this year, those pressures contributed to early investors lowering Canva’s valuation to about $35 billion. Canva also faces competition from AI startups and general-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini, which can generate images and help users create posters and presentations. The changes reflect a broad effort to adapt the company’s structure and spending to slower growth and a more competitive design-software market.