Canva restructures 1,271 roles with six months' pay and MacBooks

In short

• Canva told staff on 4 November 2026 that 1,271 roles, about 22% of its workforce, would be affected by a restructuring.
• Not all 1,271 are leaving: some will change roles or be asked to move to hubs such as Sydney.
• Leaving employees get at least six months' salary, keep their MacBooks, and receive one year of LinkedIn Premium and career support.
• Canva's August shareholder letter cut the 2026 growth forecast from 30% to 20%, citing high AI serving costs.

Canva's restructuring: 1,271 roles, not all layoffs

Canva announced layoffs on 4 November 2026 that will affect 1,271 roles, about 22% of its workforce, according to Hindustan Times. The memo spread quickly after Shweta Kukreja (@ShwetaKukreja_) posted it on X, where it drew more than 65,000 likes, according to a post seen by InvestIn.News. Not all of the 1,271 people are being laid off. Some will change roles and some will be asked to move to hubs such as Sydney, Chief Executive Melanie Perkins wrote. Perkins said '1,271 people, or 22% of Canva, will be impacted', according to Hindustan Times.

Canva has been used by hundreds of millions of people and this is the first restructuring in its 13-year history, according to Hindustan Times. Perkins described it as the company's 'hardest year yet', with growth slowing for the first time in a decade. The memo reviewed by InvestIn.News does not use the term artificial intelligence, instead attributing the changes to 'new technology'. Canva has not disclosed how many of the 1,271 people will actually leave the company, Hindustan Times reported.

Which benefits do leaving Canva staff get?

Employees who do leave get a package that goes further than most tech layoffs, according to The Economic Times. Wherever they are based, leavers receive no less than six months of salary, statutory entitlements included. They keep the MacBook Canva issued them, since, as the company notes, some staff have no other laptop. Canva adds a year of healthcare cover in the countries where it already offers that benefit, 12 months of LinkedIn Premium, and individual career coaching with interview preparation. The new Canva Collective Fund offers $10,000 grants, with no equity taken, to departing staff who want to start something of their own; anyone interested must register by 14 December, according to Qazinform.

Why did Canva slow its AI rollout?

Canva's August letter to shareholders, quoted in the widely shared X thread by Shweta Kukreja, said that serving an AI task cost too much on average and that the company depended too heavily on frontier models, the most advanced AI systems. Financial Express reports that Canva slowed its AI rollout to fix those costs and lowered its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% to 20%. The same X thread says early backers Blackbird and Airtree cut Canva's valuation from $42bn to $34.9bn, and that monthly users dropped from roughly 265 million at the end of 2025 to about 208 million by July, around 31 million of whom pay.

What Canva users and staff should check

For Canva users, the service is not going away, but the company is merging its Product, Growth and Platform teams into one Product Org and making Sydney the primary home for more product teams, according to Financial Express. Most hybrid employees will be expected in the office two to three days a week from January 2027. Affected employees who are leaving have until 14 December to register interest in the Canva Collective Fund. Current users do not need to do anything immediately, but the restructuring is a sign that Canva is trying to lower the cost of running AI features.

How X reacted to Canva's severance package

On X, some users called the package a model for layoffs. TakeHome Pay (@RealTakeHomePay) said on X it was 'the package every laid-off worker wishes theirs looked like', while Rishav Agarwal (@Rishav96agarwal) said on X it made him want to renew Canva for an eighth consecutive year. Others were more skeptical. Mark Feinberg (@markLFeinberg) said on X that money is not the hard part but 'the weird quiet of the first few weeks'. ZackD0x (@ZackD0x) said on X the best perk would be not cutting 22%, and asked whether executives cut bonuses first. Melvin Vivas (@melvindvivas) said on X 'Don't tell me this is not about AI'.

Canva's 22% cut in numbers

Questions readers ask

Has Canva laid off employees?

Yes. Canva announced a restructuring on 4 November 2026 affecting 1,271 roles, about 22% of its workforce, but not all are leaving. Some employees will change roles or move to hubs such as Sydney. Those who leave receive at least six months' salary, keep their MacBooks and can apply for $10,000 startup grants.

Is Canva making profit?

Canva has been cash-flow positive for nine years, according to the X thread by Shweta Kukreja, but leaked numbers show revenue barely moved this year. Early backers Blackbird and Airtree marked its valuation down from $42bn to $34.9bn.

What should affected Canva employees do?

Affected employees who are leaving have until 14 December to register interest in the Canva Collective Fund, which offers $10,000 grants with no equity taken. They also keep their MacBooks and get career support, one year of LinkedIn Premium, and healthcare where Canva already provides it.

Our view: Canva's AI squeeze

At InvestIn.News, we think the severance package deserves the praise it has received, but the memo's language is telling. The word AI does not appear in it, even though Canva's August shareholder letter pointed to expensive AI serving costs and over-reliance on frontier models. That pattern suggests the company is framing a technology-driven squeeze as an organisational reset.

The user numbers sharpen the point. Monthly users fell from about 265 million at the end of 2025 to about 208 million by July, while early backers marked the valuation down from $42bn to $34.9bn. A cash-flow-positive company can afford MacBooks and $10,000 grants; most software firms under the same AI pressure cannot.

The test is execution. If the new Product Org and Sydney co-location lower AI costs without further cuts, Canva will have managed a hard transition unusually well.

How we reported this: this story draws on reporting by X, The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and financialexpress.com, 8 public posts shown in the story and first-hand reporting by our writer. Each source is linked in the text and listed under Sources.

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What to watch: Affected employees who are leaving have until 14 December to register interest in the Canva Collective Fund's $10,000 grants.