Canva is conducting its first mass layoff, which will potentially impact up to 1271 people. Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced today that the company will undergo a significant restructuring, with 22 percent of its staff to be affected.

"For some people, this will mean changes to their roles or being asked to relocate to centralised hubs," Perkins said in a note to staff. "Sadly, it will also mean saying goodbye to teammates and friends who have helped build Canva into what it is today."

Canva's browser-based design platform of the same name has become a popular tool for businesses, educators, students, and anyone else interested in easily creating visually appealing documents and presentations. Launched in 2013, the Australian company now has teams across 37 countries, and has claimed over 265 million monthly active users.

However, Canva's growth notably slowed this year, with reports that its monthly active user count was 208 million in July. In August, the design software company revised its revenue growth expectations from 30 percent down to 20 percent — almost half the 38 percent growth it saw last financial year. Canva further wiped $7.9 billion from its own internal valuation later that same month, taking it from $38.9 billion to $31 billion. Two of Canva's backers similarly reduced their valuations of the company, reducing it by 17 percent from $42 billion to $34.9 billion.

Canva has previously pointed to the cost of AI as a significant factor driving its lowered revenue projections. While Perkins told investors in August that there is strong demand for its AI products, implementing them has been more expensive and taken longer than initially planned .

Source link