Canva restructures: 1,271 jobs hit; AI-displaced workers search longer
Canva, the Australian design-software firm, is cutting, moving or changing 1,271 roles, about 22 per cent of staff; a Goldman analysis shows how long workers displaced by AI take to find work.
A software company that leans heavily on AI is shrinking its workforce for the first time in 13 years and cites new technology as the driver. At the same time Goldman Sachs finds that those who lose their job to AI stay unemployed for longer.
What happened
Melanie Perkins, co-founder and chief executive, announced the overhaul in a memo reported by Bloomberg on 3 November. It affects 1,271 employees, about 22%, who must change roles, move to central hubs or leave. Canva did not say how many will lose their jobs. More product teams are to be based in Sydney. Ms Perkins writes that new technology is changing what people create, how they create it and what they expect from products, and that small changes would not be enough. Growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. Those who leave receive at least six months' salary, 12 months of health cover where Canva provides it, and $10,000 towards a new venture if they wish. The memo does not name AI as the reason in so many words. Pierfrancesco Mei, a Goldman economist, examined data on workers displaced between 2016 and 2025: those likely to have lost their job to AI in 2025 took about a month longer to find a new one and were roughly 10 percentage points more likely still to be unemployed a year later. Assessment: there is no official count of AI-related job losses; Goldman estimates from occupations and industries.
What follows
Software firms face pressure that Canva only describes obliquely: if AI tools let users do more without specialist software, margins and teams shrink. Smaller teams with broader roles replace specialised functions. For employees, the Goldman analysis shows the mechanism behind it: six months' pay bridges less when the search takes longer and new jobs are often heavily exposed to AI again. WORTH is not adding Canva to its AI job tracker for now, because the 1,271 also include transfers and relocations. Assessment: Canva cites both slower growth and new technology; how much of the overhaul is down to AI cannot be separated from outside.
What changes in practice
- Employees
- At Canva 1,271 people must change role, location or employer. Those who leave receive at least six months' pay.
- Job seekers
- According to Goldman, AI-displaced workers search a month longer on average and are more often unemployed after a year.
- Software firms
- Smaller teams with broader roles become the pattern as AI takes over specialised work.
What to watch
- The number of actual redundancies at Canva
- Other software firms citing new technology for restructuring
- New data on re-employment of AI-displaced workers
Sources
- Bloomberg: Canva cuts jobs, restructures workforce as growth slows for first time
- Analytics India Magazine: Canva to lay off 1,271 employees, 22% of workforce affected
- Briefs: Canva cuts 22% of staff as it restructures
- Axios via Yahoo Finance: AI-related layoffs carry a hidden cost for workers
- Fortune: Goldman Sachs on AI layoffs and displaced workers