Canva

Financial Context

Estimate uses avg AU cost of $110,000+/yr (salary only, excluding super, office, recruitment) vs offshore $25,000/yr (salary + on-costs). Actual figures vary by role, seniority, and location.

In Plain English

• In 2024, Canva was reported to have 1,000+ offshore contractors and staff.
• This represents ~20% when compared to its current workforce of 5,000 (illustrative comparison only — not directly reported by the company).
• 🇵🇭 1,000+ staff reported in Philippines.
• 10 Australian jobs have been cut.

Based on data from public sources at the dates reported. Figures may not reflect current headcount. See sources below for full attribution.

The Story

• 2014Canva opened its Manila office with 7 people. The Philippines became the company's largest team outside Australia. [Canva Careers]
• October 2023AFR revealed Canva was informally advising other Australian startups — including SafetyCulture, Eucalyptus, and Linktree — how to hire staff in Manila. Canva had 850+ people in Philippines across design, marketing, customer service, HR, and finance. Start-ups can hire remote staff in Manila for 50-70% less than Australia. [Australian Financial Review]
• 2024Canva's Manila office grew to over 1,000 staff — now occupying all 7 floors of the Makati building. Customer Happiness is the biggest Manila team, plus Design, Sales, People, and Operations. [Vogue Philippines]
• Mid-2024Canva's co-founders held an all-hands meeting directing all employees to start using AI tools 'wherever possible' to increase productivity. [Australian Financial Review]
• April 2025Canva cut 10 of 12 technical writers — the company's first ever redundancy round. Staff had been assured AI wouldn't cost jobs. They diligently followed the directive to use 'any and every' AI tool — then were replaced by it. Canva was recently valued at US$32 billion. [Australian Financial Review]
• September 2025Canva denied AI was driving further departures after dozens of staff left across sales, finance, security, and IT. The company uses a five-tier performance ranking system to manage out underperformers every six months. [Australian Financial Review]

All facts sourced from public reporting. No editorial commentary. Click source links to verify.