Canva changes affect 1,271 staff, or 22 percent

Canva is changing its organization in a move affecting 1,271 people, or 22 percent of its staff, co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced in a note to employees.

Some employees will have changes to their roles or be asked to relocate to centralized hubs. Others will leave the company. Canva says departing employees will receive at least six months of salary, twelve months of healthcare coverage and career support resources.

The changes include combining the Product, Growth and Platform teams into one product organization, simplifying management layers and consolidating overlapping responsibilities. Sydney will become the primary home for more product teams and some other roles where shared context and close collaboration are considered especially important.

Starting in January, Canva will expect most hybrid employees to work from an office two to three days a week, depending on what makes sense in their area. The announcement did not specify a year for January.

Perkins said Canva needed to “refound” the company around smaller, empowered teams, after concluding that smaller changes would not be enough to prepare it for the next decade. Separately, Squarespace announced layoffs affecting 19 percent of its staff the day before Canva’s announcement.