Was not ready to exponential growth - Software Engineer Canva Employee Review

3.0
4 June 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great atmosphere, smart people, great product, good work/life balance

Cons

1) Very product oriented. Why it is a drawback? Because everything is concentrated on product/interface features. If you work on backend or infrastructure you are on the side of the world. 2) Exponential growth led to ineffective processes and infrastructure, infrastructure really sucks, pull requests can take from couple of days to several weeks to be reviewed. 3) Authoritarian people in tech management - even senior newbies are treated as grads, they will teach you from scratch not relying on your previous experience. 4) Flat structure, no career growth

Explore other reviews about Canva

5.0
24 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

⁠The work culture is amazing and highly collaborative. There are plenty of opportunities to learn new technologies, and the perks/benefits are excellent.⁠The work culture is amazing and highly collaborative. There are plenty of opportunities to learn new technologies, and the perks/benefits are excellent.⁠

Cons

The company is growing very fast, so internal processes and structure change frequently. Work-life balance can be tricky during big product launches.⁠

3.0
28 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Product is beloved by users. Brand affinity is second to none which makes being a marketer a lot of fun. Genuinely good and caring coworkers who want to build something great. Hiring bar is high. Vibe and Thrive benefit is clever and unique.

Cons

Behind the brand is a cult like culture with the “founders” surrounded by yes people (whether they are aware of it or not). Mediocrity seems to be tolerated among management’s “old guard” causing tension and churn with newer and sometimes more experienced leaders. Insecure leaders at some of the highest levels perpetuate much of the toxic behaviors described in the reviews below such as gaslighting and favoritism. People “disappear” with little to no explanation, but hey, it’s the “Canva way”.

5
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