Canva Announces 1,200 Job Reductions Amid AI Competition and Shifting Strategy
Graphic design platform Canva announced a massive corporate restructuring that will affect 1,271 employees, or roughly 22 percent of its global workforce, through redundancies, role changes, and forced relocations. CEO Melanie Perkins cited slowing revenue growth for the first time in a decade, alongside ballooning infrastructure costs driven by competitive generative AI features.
The company combined its Product, Growth, and Platform divisions into a single unified organization, stripped out management layers, and shifted central product operations toward Sydney. Although the company remains profitable, it lowered its projected growth targets and faced valuation adjustments from early investors earlier in the year.
Canva's massive restructuring proves that the race to build and run generative AI features is forcing even highly profitable tech companies to slash traditional headcount to pay for massive infrastructure overhead. When tech giants pivot budgets toward AI computing power, human-heavy operations, middle management, and creative support roles are the first to get squeezed, flooding the job market with experienced talent.
You must adapt your skill set to prove how you can work alongside AI tools rather than getting replaced by them. Leverage your experience on your resume to highlight high-level problem-solving, technical adaptability, and strategic execution, while aggressively targeting companies and sectors that value human oversight over automated bloat.