Design giant Canva cuts over 1,000 jobs
Read about a major restructure at Canva and discuss what it reveals about the tech industry today.
Written for any B2 learner. Adapt it to make it about your student: their level, their work, their goals.
Introduction
When a successful company suddenly reduces its workforce, it often signals deeper changes in its industry. This lesson looks at recent news from the Australian design platform Canva and asks what it tells us about the wider tech world. Have you or has anyone you know ever experienced a company restructure?
Key Vocabulary
8 wordsLearn these words before reading the article. They will help you understand the text better.
restructure
a significant change to the way a company or organisation is organised, often involving job losses or new roles
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workforce
all the people who work for a particular company, industry, or country
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hybrid workers
employees who divide their working time between an office and another location, usually their home
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mirror
to be very similar to something else or to reflect a situation or trend
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disrupters
companies or technologies that change the traditional way an industry operates, often in a new and unexpected way
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soaring
rising very quickly to a high level
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rolling out
introducing a new product, service, or system to the public or to a group of people, often in stages
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immune to
not affected by something, especially something negative that affects others
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Article
Read the article carefully. Take your time to understand the main ideas.
Listen to the article. The sentence being read is highlighted; click any word to hear it.
Canva, the Australian graphic design platform, has announced a major restructure that will affect more than 1,200 employees. The changes will impact 22 percent of its global workforce. Some staff will lose their jobs, while others will be asked to relocate to centralised hubs or move into different roles.
In a message to staff, chief executive Melanie Perkins described the decision as the hardest moment in the company's thirteen-year history. She explained that Canva's growth had slowed for the first time in a decade, making significant changes necessary. Perkins added that the company needed to bring more teams together in person and reduce layers of management.
Sydney will become the primary home for more product teams, and hybrid workers will be expected to spend two or three days in the office from next year. The company has staff in 37 countries, and those who are leaving will receive at least six months of salary. In countries where healthcare is a workplace benefit, they will keep coverage for a further year. Departing employees can also keep their laptops and apply for grants of up to ten thousand US dollars to start their own ventures.
A wider industry trend
The changes at Canva mirror a broader trend across the technology sector. Several well-known software companies have made similar cuts recently. For example, Atlassian reduced its workforce by 1,600 roles, and both Block and WiseTech Global also announced job losses.
Industry observers point to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence as a key factor. New AI tools are changing what customers expect from design products and how they create content. As a result, established companies are under pressure to invest heavily in AI while also facing competition from cheaper AI-powered disrupters. Some analysts have even used the term "SaaS-pocalypse" to describe the fear that advanced AI could make specialised software unnecessary. However, many established firms have rejected this idea and are instead choosing to adopt AI tools aggressively or adjust their business models.
Interestingly, Canva did not mention AI directly in its restructure announcement. Nevertheless, reports suggest that the company's internal valuation has dropped, partly because of the soaring costs of developing and rolling out new AI-powered products. Two of its backers reportedly reduced their valuation of the firm from around sixty billion Australian dollars to roughly forty-nine billion.
What makes this story particularly striking is that Canva has long been seen as one of Australia's most successful startups. Launched in 2013 by Perkins, who left university at nineteen to start her first business, the platform offers templates and tools that allow people without design training to create professional-looking graphics and presentations. It has often been mentioned as a strong candidate for a major stock market listing. The current restructure shows that even companies with a strong reputation are not immune to the forces reshaping the tech industry.
Comprehension Questions
Answer these questions to check your understanding of the article.
- 1What percentage of Canva's global workforce is affected by the restructure?
- 2According to the article, what three things might happen to affected employees?
- 3How many months of salary will departing employees receive?
- 4Why have some backers reportedly reduced Canva's valuation?
- 5What is the 'SaaS-pocalypse' that some analysts talk about?
- 6What did Melanie Perkins say about the company's recent growth?
Further Discussion
Discuss these questions about the topic and your personal experiences.
- 1What is your reaction to the news about Canva? Do you think restructures like this are always a sign of problems, or can they be positive?
- 2The article mentions that AI is changing what customers expect from design products. How do you think AI might change the design industry in your country?
- 3Canva will ask hybrid workers to spend two or three days in the office. What are the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid working, in your opinion?
- 4Departing Canva employees can apply for a grant to start their own business. Would this kind of support motivate you to start a venture? Why or why not?
- 5Compare the tech industry with another sector in your country. Are job cuts more common in one than the other, and why might that be?
- 6Some people believe that AI will create more jobs than it destroys, while others disagree. Weigh both sides of this argument.
Wrap-up & Reflection
In this lesson, you practised vocabulary for talking about company changes, such as 'restructure', 'workforce' and 'soaring costs', and you explored the wider effects of AI on the tech industry. To finish, think of a company or industry in your country that has gone through a major change recently. In your next conversation, try to describe what happened using at least three of the new words from today's vocabulary list.
Make it about your student
Same story, rewritten at your student's level, with discussion questions about their job, goals and weak spots. The vocabulary stays from the news, so they learn words outside their usual topics.
Sources
LinguaFlow wrote this article for language learners from facts reported by the sources below. Read them for the full story.