Canva Layoffs: 1,271 Jobs Affected as AI Reshapes the Design Giant

Canva layoffs have put one of Australia's best-known technology companies at the centre of the debate over artificial intelligence and jobs. The design platform said on 4 November 2026 that 1,271 people, or 22 per cent of its workforce, would lose their jobs, move into different roles or relocate to central hubs as the company rebuilds itself around AI products.

Chief executive Melanie Perkins told staff in a note posted on the company's website that Canva needed to "refound" itself. The restructure is the largest workforce shake-up in the company's 13-year history, and it comes after growth slowed for the first time in a decade. Canva employs more than 5,700 people across 37 countries.

Canva layoffs: what the company announced

The 1,271 figure covers three groups together: people who will lose their jobs, people whose roles will change, and people asked to relocate. Perkins did not say how many fall into each group, and the company has not given a country-by-country breakdown, so the number of outright redundancies is still unclear. What is clear is the scale: more than one in five of the company's staff is affected.

Product teams will be centred in Sydney, which becomes the main home for that work. Most staff on hybrid arrangements will be expected in the office two to three days a week from January. The company has not said how many of the affected roles sit in Australia and how many sit elsewhere, but the Sydney focus means relocation is a real part of the plan for staff in other hubs.

Perkins described the changes as the hardest moment in the company's history. The union representing Canva staff said the timing, so close to Christmas, made the news harder for the people affected and their families.

Why Canva is restructuring now

Two forces sit behind the decision. The first is growth: Canva's growth slowed for the first time in a decade, and the company is preparing for a possible stock market listing. The second is artificial intelligence. Bloomberg, which first reported the cuts, described the overhaul as a structural reckoning forced by AI, and other coverage has framed the restructure as setting Canva up to build AI-related products.

Perkins' own note did not name artificial intelligence, according to The Statesman, and Canva told Australian Associated Press that human tasks would not be replaced by AI. The restructure is plainly about AI products and AI-shaped teams, but the company insists the people who stay will still do the work that needs judgement, taste and customer understanding.

Canva is not the first Australian technology company to cut jobs this year while pointing at AI. Atlassian trimmed its headcount by 1,600 in March 2026, with nearly 500 of those roles in Australia, saying AI had changed the mix of skills it needed. Weeks earlier, logistics software firm WiseTech Global announced plans to cut up to 2,000 roles, later revised to 1,700, as part of an AI efficiency drive. Canva's move fits that pattern, but at 22 per cent of staff it is the biggest of the three.

What staff who leave will receive

Canva has set out a package for people who lose their jobs. Every worker who leaves will be paid six months' salary, keep healthcare entitlements for 12 months and keep their laptops. That is a fuller package than many technology layoffs offer, and it matters for the people affected, who face a job market where design and software roles are being redefined at speed.

What the Canva layoffs mean for jobseekers

For people looking for work in design and technology, the Canva layoffs carry two messages at once. The first is that even a company built on making design easy is cutting roles as AI changes what design work looks like. The second is that the skills Canva still wants are the ones AI handles badly: judgement, client relationships and the ability to turn a brief into work that holds up. The reversal of AI layoffs at other companies shows the same lesson from the other side, with firms rehiring people whose roles turned out to need human skills after all.

Designers and engineers who want to stay employable should be able to show they can work with AI tools rather than compete with them: using AI for drafts and routine production, then applying judgement to the result. The October 2026 US job cuts figures show AI is now cited in a large share of layoff announcements, and the 500 job cuts at NICE, also linked to an AI transition, point the same way.

If you work at Canva or are applying to the company, check the official Canva careers page for the roles that are open now, and treat any approach about a Canva job with care. Real hiring runs through the company's own channels, and no genuine employer asks a candidate to pay for a job, a visa or a placement. Anyone asking for money in exchange for a role should be treated as a scam.

At a glance	Details
Company	Canva Inc., design platform based in Sydney, Australia
People affected	1,271, or 22 per cent of the workforce of more than 5,700 across 37 countries
What it covers	Job cuts, role changes and relocations to central hubs; the number of outright layoffs has not been disclosed
Announced	4 November 2026, in a note from chief executive Melanie Perkins
Office plan	Product teams centred in Sydney; hybrid staff in the office two to three days a week from January
Leaving package	Six months' salary, healthcare entitlements for 12 months, keep their laptops
Context	Growth slowed for the first time in a decade; Atlassian cut 1,600 jobs in March 2026 and WiseTech Global up to 2,000 roles

Sources: The Business Times at https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/telcos-media-tech/canva-announces-layoffs-job-changes-about-22-workforce?ref=article-see-also, reporting Bloomberg's account of the announcement on 4 November 2026; Australian Associated Press at https://aapnews.aap.com.au/news/profoundly-difficult-canva-unveils-sweeping-job-cuts on the severance package and the company's position on AI; and The Statesman at https://www.thestatesman.com/business/canva-layoffs-and-the-ai-question-why-a-design-giant-is-cutting-22-percent-of-staff-without-once-naming-ai-1503658668.html on the detail of the announcement.