Canva's biggest restructuring affects 22% of its workforce
What's the story
Canva, one of Australia's most valuable tech start-ups, has announced a major restructuring plan that will see over 1,200 employees laid off or relocated. The company's co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins shared the "profoundly difficult news" in an email to staff on November 4. This is Canva's first-ever major restructuring and redundancy round in its 13-year history.
Growth challenges
Perkins says Canva's growth has slowed
Perkins revealed that Canva's growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. The company had recently lowered its revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%.
Perkins described this year as "our hardest year yet," and said, "We have made the incredibly hard decision to make significant changes to how we're organized, where some of our teams are based."
Workforce impact
Restructuring to affect over 1,200 employees
The restructuring plan will affect some 1,271 employees or 22% of Canva's total workforce.
While some employees will be laid off, others will be asked to relocate to central hubs.
Perkins said in her email that this decision was unavoidable and small changes were not enough to keep the organization afloat.
Operational changes
Canva will merge its product, growth, and platform teams
The restructuring will see Canva merge its Product, Growth, and Platform teams into a single Product Org.
This is aimed at reducing handovers, improving coordination, and giving teams more autonomy.
Perkins said in her email, "We want to get back to spending more time building, and less time navigating how work gets done."
Relocation strategy
Employees to be asked to work from the office
Canva also plans to relocate some employees, with Sydney becoming the primary base for more product teams and certain other roles.
Most hybrid employees will be asked to work from the office for two to three days a week from January, depending on their location and role.
The company will provide relocation support to those asked to move.