Most of Canva’s technical writing team has been laid off as the company continues to expand its use of artificial intelligence, but Information Age understands the graphic design giant does not see the redundancies as a result of its increasing AI use.
Technical writers are typically responsible for writing and updating documents such as guides and manuals for both internal and external use.
Ten of Canva's 12 technical writing staff were reportedly made redundant last Friday, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR).
Several technical writers who worked for the company have since updated their LinkedIn profiles, noting their roles ended in March and they were now open to work opportunities.
Canva’s head of technical writing Vikram Goyal — who was also a senior engineering manager at the company — appeared to have been among those laid off, as his LinkedIn account now stated his work at the firm ended in March.
Are the Canva layoffs the result of more AI use?
Employees speaking under the condition of anonymity reportedly told the AFR they had followed Canva’s direction to increase their use of generative AI tools, and had previously been told by the company that its escalating use of AI would not lead to layoffs.
Internally at Canva, the technical writer redundancies were not being presented to staff as the result of the company's increasing use of AI systems, Information Age understands.
“After thoughtful consideration, we are evolving our technical content writing function to better align with how our engineering teams create and maintain documentation," the company said in a statement.
"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."
Canva has been asked to comment on whether those "new tools" involved the use of AI models.
The company said it aimed to place workers in other roles if possible, or offer "generous financial packages to assist with their next steps".
The firm's co-founders allegedly encouraged employees to use AI whenever possible during a staff meeting held in mid-2024, as the company sought to increase productivity.
“From accelerating research to automating repetitive tasks and unlocking new creative possibilities, we’re empowering our team to work smarter, upskill, and lead in this new AI era,” Canva wrote on its website in early March.
[L-R] Canva co-founders Cameron Adams, Cliff Obrecht, and Melanie Perkins. Photo: Canva
Canva joins a long list of companies which have restructured amid growing use of AI models in everyday work.
The Commonwealth Bank said it would test AI chatbots which could replace call centre staff, and it has collaborated with US AI companies such as Anthropic and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Telstra has also restructed parts of its business as it invests in AI technologies.
Recent analysis by the Social Policy Group found one third of Australia’s workforce could experience a period of unemployment if the country maintains its current pace of AI adoption.
Canva stock market debut looms
Canva has more than 5,000 staff worldwide and reportedly added 1,000 new employees in 2024 as it saw an increase to more than 220 million monthly active users.
The company is expected to debut on the US stock exchange in the coming years, after recently being valued at more than $51 billion ($US32 billion).
Canva increased its subscription prices in late 2024 after acquiring Australian generative AI startup Leonardo AI in a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million.
The firm hired former Zoom executive Kelly Steckelberg as its new chief financial officer in November.
Steckelberg has been credited with helping take video conferencing giant Zoom public and enabling the company to join the Nasdaq-100 stock index in 2020 as it boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
