Canva conducts mass layoffs, offering departing employees MacBooks and other benefits

The international design platform Canva has announced layoffs. This decision will affect about 22 percent of the company's total staff, amounting to 1,271 employees. Canva CEO Melanie Perkins called this moment the most difficult in the history of the thirteen-year-old company.

However, despite the layoffs, not all affected employees will lose their jobs; some may see changes in their responsibilities or be offered relocation to other cities. Melanie Perkins stated in a message sent to employees on November 4th that the company is making changes to its working methods, team structure, and necessary skills for the future.

According to the CEO, Canva's business growth has slowed for the first time in a decade, making this year the toughest for the company. Perkins emphasized the need for large-scale transformations in the operational structure to prepare for the next decade, as minor adjustments would not suffice.

The company aims to work with smaller, more autonomous teams to accelerate decision-making and clearly define employee responsibilities. Although the CEO's message did not directly mention the impact of artificial intelligence on layoffs, the decision comes against the backdrop of increasing use of AI tools in the design and software industry, which is changing the competitive landscape and business practices.

Canva plans to consolidate its product, growth, and platform teams under a single product organization. The goal of this step is to increase cohesion between different groups and reduce workflow delays. Furthermore, the company intends to reduce management levels and consolidate certain functions so they carry broader responsibilities.

The company wants teams to be able to run projects from start to finish independently, avoiding constant reliance on different departments for decision-making.

Canva plans to concentrate some of its product and other teams in Sydney. Employees may be asked to relocate there, and the company will assist them with the move. Starting in January, most hybrid employees will be required to come into the office two to three days a week. The company notes that while working in different countries has its advantages, collaborative teamwork is essential for solving complex problems.

For those leaving the company, Canva has announced a support package. Departing employees will receive at least six months' pay, in addition to all legally mandated payments. Additionally, they will be offered career counseling, interview preparation, and access to LinkedIn Premium for one year.

It was also announced that employees whose positions are being eliminated can keep their corporate MacBook laptops. Moreover, some employees will be offered the opportunity to apply for a $10,000 grant to launch a new business or public project. This decision by Canva demonstrates the company's commitment to a complete reorganization, even though it means 1,271 employees must now seek a new career path.

Canva is undertaking a large-scale workforce restructuring affecting 1,271 employees, which accounts for 22% of its total staff, as it reorganizes its business to align with rapid technological changes. These changes include staff reductions, role modifications, and relocation requests, although the company has not yet disclosed the exact number of laid-off employees.

CEO Melanie Perkins stated that this restructuring followed the company's first growth slowdown in the last decade and reflects the need to rethink working methods and team organization. In a memo to employees published on November 4th, Perkins called this the most challenging moment in Canva's 13-year history. She noted that 'new technologies are transforming what people can create, how they do it, and what they expect from the products they use.'

The memorandum did not directly blame artificial intelligence for the staffing changes. It also cited slowing growth and a fragmented organizational structure that arose during the company's expansion. Perkins wrote: 'After studying a wide range of alternatives, I came to the difficult conclusion that small changes would not be enough. To prepare for the next decade, we need to restructure Canva by returning to our roots—small, empowered teams that have the freedom to make decisions, take responsibility, and focus on what is most important to our community.'

Canva will merge its product, growth, and platform teams into a single product organization, reduce narrow specialization, and eliminate management layers. Sydney will become the main base for more product teams. Starting in January, most hybrid employees will be required to work in the office two to three days a week, depending on their location.

Founded in Australia in 2013 by Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams, Canva has evolved into a global design platform. The company claims that its platform is used by over 250 million people monthly. Canva is now striving to move beyond template-based design. This year, Canva AI 2.0 was introduced, allowing users to create and edit multi-layered designs through dialogues with an AI assistant. In October, the company also announced new AI-powered tools and a design-focused model.

In August, Canva lowered its revenue growth forecast for 2026 from 30% to 20% because the cost of implementing AI features proved higher than expected. Competitors are also expanding their offerings. On November 3rd, Figma announced an AI feature that uses prototype interactions as context when generating code. In March, Atlassian announced layoffs of about 1,600 jobs, or 10% of its staff, partly to fund larger investments in AI. This week, the Squarespace platform announced a voluntary staff reduction of 19%, citing the need to streamline operations.

Regulation is developing parallel to technology. As of August 2nd, transparency requirements under the EU AI Act apply to certain AI systems. These include informing users about interaction with AI and ensuring machine-readable labels for AI-generated results. Canva assured that departing employees will receive at least six months' salary, 12 months of health insurance in countries where it is provided, career support, and access to $10,000 grants for those wishing to start their own business.

The German company Innodata, which provides services in artificial intelligence (AI) and data processing, suddenly laid off about 550 employees in India and the Philippines. This incident occurred on October 26 when employees faced an abrupt cessation of work.

According to those affected, Monday morning started as usual: they logged into the system, marked their attendance, and began working. However, closer to lunchtime, suspicions arose. The team in the Philippines received a termination notification via a Zoom conference call.

When some workers checked the company's HR portal, they discovered that on October 26, their 'official resignation' had been registered, and a last working day was set. Before employees could figure out the situation or contact their managers, their official devices began to be blocked, laptop access was disabled, and corporate IDs were deactivated.

Access to the HR accounting application was also immediately revoked, preventing employees from downloading pay slips or other necessary documents. Later, termination letters began arriving at employees' personal email addresses.

According to the termination letters obtained by India Today, the reason for the layoffs was cited as 'reduction in business tasks.' These messages stated that the decision to cease services at Innodata India Private Limited was made considering 'commercial and operational needs.' The company emphasized that this decision was not related to the individual performance of any employee.

Information gathered from Reddit discussions and internal channels indicates that the mass layoff was linked to the MUPSL project. Specialists in AI data analysis and process analysts from American, Philippine, and Indian teams were affected. Their positions were declared redundant due to a decrease in service volume from a major client.

It was also stated that the final settlement would be prepared as a payment order, which would be transferred after the return of all company assets, including laptops. However, the company did not disclose the exact number of laid-off employees in its official statement.

Due to the suddenness of the layoffs, employees created a WhatsApp group to contact each other. By evening, over 500 people had gathered in this group, who were shocked and disoriented by this unexpected decision.

It should be noted that Innodata, based in New Jersey, provides services to giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Sony, handling tasks like data labeling, model training, and security testing. Although the company globally employs thousands of people, this round of layoffs has once again raised serious questions about the instability of the technology sector and the harshness of the corporate world.

The reduction at Innodata is not an isolated case. At the same time, Microsoft announced a 'voluntary separation offer' for selected employees in the US, Canada, the UK, and India, indicating a rapid shift in business priorities within the technology and AI sectors. Nevertheless, the main problem facing Innodata employees now is that they have been suddenly dismissed and are forced to gather their employment records.