Canva announces major job cuts after 'our hardest year yet'
CEO Melanie Perkins says more than 1,000 staff will either lose their jobs or be asked to change roles.
Canva announces major job cuts after 'our hardest year yet'
Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins says this year has been "our hardest" yet
Canva, one of Australia's best known start-ups, has announced a restructuring of the business that will affect 22% of its workers, including job cuts.
In what was "without doubt the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history", co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said 1,271 people would either lose their jobs, be asked to relocate or change roles.
The firm's value has reportedly fallen over the past year amid concerns about the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) on its business, as well as the expense of building the technology into its platforms.
It had been "our hardest year yet, and as we shared earlier this year, our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade," Perkins wrote to staff.
The "incredibly hard decision" would bring "significant changes," Perkins said.
"For some people, this will mean changes to their roles or being asked to relocate to centralised hubs. Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today."
The company, which has staff in 37 countries, said Sydney would become the "primary home" for more of its product teams and that from next year hybrid workers would be expected to spend two to three days in the office.
Earlier this year two of its backers, Blackbird Ventures and Airtree, reportedly reduced its valuation from A$60bn ($41.8bn; £31.1bn) at the end of last year to about A$49bn.
Canva also reportedly lowered its own internal valuation as AI costs surged during the rollout of new products.
"New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use," Perkins said in her note on Wednesday.
Perkins, who left university at 19 to found her first venture, launched Canva in 2013.
The company provides a range of templates and tools that help users without technical skills or a design background create professional-looking graphics and presentations, from wedding invitations to business pitch decks.