Canva is undertaking a major workforce restructuring affecting 1,271 employees, or 22% of its workforce, as it reorganises its business to adapt to rapid technological change.

The changes include redundancies, role changes and relocation requests, although the company has not disclosed how many employees will leave.

Chief executive officer Melanie Perkins said the restructuring followed the company’s first slowdown in growth in a decade and reflected the need to rethink how it operates and organises its teams.

In a note to employees published on November 4, Perkins described the development as the hardest moment in Canva’s 13-year history. She said, “New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use.”

The memo did not explicitly blame artificial intelligence for the job changes. It also pointed to slowing growth and an organisational structure that had become fragmented as the company expanded.

“After exploring a wide range of alternatives, I’ve come to the difficult conclusion that small changes won’t be enough. 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 wrote.

Canva will combine its Product, Growth and Platform teams into a single Product organisation, reduce narrow specialisations and remove management layers. Sydney will become the main base for more product teams. From January, most hybrid employees are expected to work from an office for two to three days a week, depending on their location.

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