The reorganization comes as the 13-year-old company seeks to prepare for its next stage of growth after experiencing its first slowdown in expansion in a decade, cofounder and CEO Perkins said in a message to staff published on Canva’s website.
“This is without a doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history,” said Perkins, who founded Canva with her husband, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams. “Success in our first chapter doesn’t guarantee success in the next.”
Perkins said the changes will affect 22% of Canva’s workforce, through relocations, changes in roles and layoffs.
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Canvas Co-founder & CEO Melanie Perkins speaks during the annual Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal on November 5, 2019. Photo by NurPhoto via AFP |
The restructuring is designed to align the company’s organization, roles and skills with its future needs, following months of “thinking through” how AI and other new technologies are reshaping the world, according to Forbes.
“We’ve spoken a lot about how quickly the world is changing,” Perkins said. “New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use.”
Under the plan, Canva will streamline work so employees can spend more time building and less time navigating an organizational structure that has become rigid as the company has grown, Perkins said.
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Canva Founder and CEO Cliff Obrecht leaves lunch at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Photo by Getty Images via AFP |
It will also reduce subspecialization and remove organizational layers to give employees broader ownership, while expanding in-person collaboration and bringing relevant teams together in the same locations.
“To set ourselves up for the next decade, we need to refound Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions, take ownership and focus on what matters most for our community,” Perkins said.
Affected employees will receive six months of salary as part of a financial support package, along with 12 months of continued healthcare coverage and career and well-being assistance.
Perkins and Obrecht rank among Australia’s wealthiest people, with a combined net worth of US$15 billion.
Cofounder and chief product officer Adams is also a billionaire, with a fortune of $3.8 billion. Canva, valued at $42 billion in August 2025, has more than 265 million monthly active users.