Sydney-based design software company Canva has made its first known round of redundancies, laying off 10 of its 12 technical writers just months after encouraging employees to embrace AI tools in their workflows.
The move comes as part of a broader shift in Canva’s operational strategy to integrate AI-generated content into its documentation processes.
The redundancies, announced last week, follow an all-hands meeting held nine months ago where Canva’s co-founders directed staff to incorporate AI programs wherever possible to boost productivity.
A company spokesperson confirmed the layoffs, stating that Canva is evolving its approach to technical content writing to better align with how its engineering teams create and maintain documentation.
“As our ways of working continue to evolve, we’ve been empowering engineers to take greater ownership of documentation while incorporating new tools to support this process,” the spokesperson said. Canva is offering career coaching and at least six months’ pay to affected employees.
The move has unsettled staff, particularly as those impacted claim they were assured AI adoption would not lead to job losses. Employees who spoke anonymously to the Australian Financial Review said they diligently followed Canva’s AI-first directive, only to find their roles deemed redundant as AI tools became more capable.
Canva, valued at approximately A$49 billion, has been expanding its AI-driven product offerings, including text-to-image generators and background removal tools. The company is also ramping up efforts to sell its software to large enterprises ahead of a likely Nasdaq listing in the coming years. Last year, it hired former Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg, credited with leading Zoom’s 2019 Nasdaq debut.
Canva’s layoffs reflect a growing trend in the global tech industry, where AI adoption is leading to job restructuring. While companies including Google, Meta, and Amazon have made significant workforce cuts in recent years, Australian tech firms have largely avoided AI-driven redundancies – until now.
The redundancies have raised concerns among Canva employees about potential future job cuts as AI platforms continue to advance. While some insiders insist the move was not driven by cost-cutting, others see it as a sign that no role is safe from AI-driven restructuring in the tech industry.
