Melanie Perkins
CEO of CanvaWikipedia
73
MENTIONS
43
EPISODES
37
PODCASTS
Search complete. 73 mentions across 43 episodes found for "Melanie Perkins".
Nov 6, 2026
Tamsin RoseHOST
And it begs the question why, when this company is the darling of Australia's tech industry and so often held up as the gold standard for tech start-ups.
Tamsin RoseHOST
Announcing the cuts through email this week, Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins described it as without a doubt the hardest moment of our 13-year history.
Tamsin RoseHOST
And the obvious question is, are these artificial intelligence cuts? Is a company founded on the promise of creativity cutting the very humans who made that possible and took them to a valuation of roughly $44 billion? The Professionals Australia Union Tech Industry Director, Paul Inglis, says it's really important that large tech companies like Canva are honest about the impact that AI is having on jobs.
Tamsin RoseHOST
Canva insists no, that no human tasks will be replaced by AI.
James ThomsonHOST
This has not just been a startup hero that's made its founders proud.
James ThomsonHOST
Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrek, and Cameron Adams, very wealthy.
James ThomsonHOST
It's also been the bedrock of Australia's venture capital industry.
James ThomsonHOST
A lot of our most prominent venture capital firms have become prominent because they bet big and won big on Canva.
James ThomsonHOST
So, maybe this reset's been coming.
James ThomsonHOST
What happens next? I think they're going back to basics.
James ThomsonHOST
Melanie Perkins said in her note to staff that the company had to be refounded, which is a really interesting word, isn't it? Basically saying, we've got to start again.
James ThomsonHOST
We've got fat and bloated.
Scott PhillipsHOST
22%, mate, almost one in four staff members is going to be punted.
Scott PhillipsHOST
One of the co-founders, Melanie Perkins, apparently wrote in an email to staff saying it's time to refound Canva.
Scott PhillipsHOST
Get back to what we used to do to – and this is the usual corporate speak – remove middle layers of management, return decision-making to small teams, all the things.
Scott PhillipsHOST
And it's tempting to want to apply preconceptions to this, mate.
Greg AdamsHOST
And I believe Canva is owned by it says Canva layoff here.
Greg AdamsHOST
Meet CEO Negro Melanie Perkins, who plans to give away 80 percent of her what? Eighty percent of her billion dollar fortune.
Greg AdamsHOST
All right.
Greg AdamsHOST
She is a billionaire in Australia.
Greg AdamsHOST
Those losing their jobs can keep their company issued MacBooks and receive a full year of LinkedIn premium.
Greg AdamsHOST
And along with several other benefits, the package also provides career coaching, health care assistance and financial support for employees interested in launching their own business.
Greg AdamsHOST
Amid the Canva layoffs in 2026, the name of Canva CEO Melanie Perkins has grabbed eyeballs.
Greg AdamsHOST
Uh, that's the CEO nigga rep for offering financial support.
Lennox SaintHOST
In this newsroom update from Canva, they say that 1,271 people, which is 22% of the company, are affected.
Lennox SaintHOST
Melanie Perkins, the CEO of Canva, called it the hardest moment in our 13-year history.
Lennox SaintHOST
Growth slowed for the first time in a decade, and they're moving to small, empowered teams with fewer layers.
Lennox SaintHOST
So they say Canva doesn't say AI caused it.
Haylena KrishnamoorthyHOST
This week, one of Australia's most celebrated startup success tech business, Canva, announced a major restructure.
Haylena KrishnamoorthyHOST
Co-founder and chief executive Melanie Perkins says this will affect more than 1,200 positions, and that's around 22% of its workforce.
Haylena KrishnamoorthyHOST
It's understood that some staff will face job losses or relocation.
Haylena KrishnamoorthyHOST
Ms Perkins says the company's growth, with hundreds and millions of users, has slowed for the first time in a decade amid the growing use of artificial intelligence.
LarissaHOST
Yeah, but the idea was actually born much earlier.
LarissaHOST
Back in 2006, 19-year-old Aussie entrepreneur Melanie Perkins was showing her Unimates how to use other design tools.
LarissaHOST
She saw how much people actually just struggled to do the basics.
BrettHOST
We're talking resizing images or even just exporting PDFs.
Simon CarabettaHOST
So Canva.
Simon CarabettaHOST
Canva, unfortunately, a couple of days ago, it was announced by the CEO and founder that Melanie Perkins, that 1,271 people, which accounts for 22% of their entire workforce, are being laid off or being asked to relocate as well, or they're seeing their roles change dramatically within the organisation.
Simon CarabettaHOST
There was a post I saw earlier today on LinkedIn from one of their internal recruiters saying that they're part of that number as well.
Simon CarabettaHOST
So that's a very important job function we've spoken about on this podcast before.
Simon CarabettaHOST
Take this.
Simon CarabettaHOST
It's like that.
Simon CarabettaHOST
It's Melanie Perkins basically saying you have to 1,271 links.
Simon CarabettaHOST
It's dangerous out there.
Simon ThomsenHOST
I know that Ohio is due to close in the next 15 minutes or so.
Simon ThomsenHOST
So we don't really know what's happening at this point in time and we won't go into that one, but some huge news on Wednesday morning before we recorded this with Canva and Melanie Perkins, the CEO and co-founder, sending a message to all the staff that 22% will be affected, around about 1,270 people, in what she's calling a re-founding of the business.
Simon ThomsenHOST
So they didn't disclose how many jobs are going to go.
Simon ThomsenHOST
But what Perkins said is that they're combining product teams, removing organisational layers and bringing more roles into Sydney.
Ramon RayHOST
But the lesson here learned, kudos to Canva's co-founder.
Ramon RayHOST
Her name is Melanie Perkins.
Ramon RayHOST
and CEO and how she and the team are laying off people was amazing.
Ramon RayHOST
One, she talked about what they're changing.
33 more episodes mention Melanie Perkins.
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