Canva Restructures 1,271 Roles as AI Competition Reshapes Design Software Market

Canva has confirmed a sweeping organizational restructure affecting 1,271 employees — roughly 22% of its global workforce — as the Australian design platform adjusts to slowing growth and mounting competition from artificial intelligence tools. The company outlined the changes on November 4, 2026, noting that some staff will leave the business while others will see their responsibilities reshaped or be asked to relocate. Canva has not specified exactly how many positions will be eliminated.

Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said the company must change how it operates after recording its first growth slowdown in a decade. She acknowledged that emerging technology is altering how people create content and what they expect from design software, signaling a shift in strategy for the Sydney-based firm.

The restructuring arrives as AI-powered tools from companies such as OpenAI and Google increasingly enable users to generate images, slide decks and other visual assets without conventional design platforms. Canva is investing in its own AI models in response, though those efforts have driven up operating costs. According to TechCrunch, the company lowered its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%, partly due to rising AI-related expenses.

Canva has not explicitly attributed the workforce changes to AI replacing employees, framing the move instead around efficiency and organizational simplification. As part of the plan, the company will merge its Product, Growth and Platform divisions into a single organization, reduce management layers, combine overlapping responsibilities and assign staff broader roles.

Sydney will become the primary base for more product teams, meaning some employees will be required to relocate. The consolidation reflects a wider trend among software firms recalibrating headcount and cost structures as generative AI reshapes product expectations and competitive dynamics across the technology sector.