Job losses: I read the news today, oh boy. If ever you were going to update your resume, now is the time. Not only to try get a job with more pay to fight inflation but in case things go ‘pear-shaped’. These stories are from the SMH and have been edited for length.
Canva chief executive Melanie Perkins told staff recently 1271 people would be sacked and a few relocated.
The news arrived a day after the Reserve Bank lifted rates to an 18-year-high. Anyone who has tried to get hired in tech knows not much happens between now and Australia Day.
Canva’s headcount growth had slowed from 50 per cent a year to under 5 per cent.
It had been profitable for nine straight years and had more than $US1.5 billion ($2.2 billion) in the bank. It had never needed to do major layoffs.
Then the numbers turned, in large part due to the rapid rise of AI.
Canva’s internal valuation of its business, used to price staff shares, tumbled as a result, and Perkins’ email confirmed growth slowed this year for the first time in a decade.
AI is an existential threat to Canva’s business model.
Some long-term users have moved their slideshows and social posts to AI chatbots and barely open Canva anymore.
For a decade, Canva has been the most successful story in Australian tech: a 19-year-old in Perth and her boyfriend, more than 100 investor rejections, then the most valuable start-up this country has produced.
This setback is grim news for staff, but also for Australia’s venture capital sector, which has been propped up by Canva’s success.
Woodside Energy to slash more than 500 jobs
WA-based gas giant Woodside will cut at least 500 jobs as part of cost-cutting measures.
About 80 per cent of Woodside’s workforce is based in Australia, with the vast majority stationed in WA.
The restructure was announced as part of a broader strategy to increase returns to investors.
When all the hype and the fury are stripped away, the decision to extend the life of the gigantic North West Shelf LNG plant boils down to one thing — enabling the Browse gas project off the Kimberley coast.
The North West Shelf, which was controversially given the green light to keep operating until 2070, was also singled out as a key project in the company’s future plans.
Despite facing many hurdles to developing Browse, Woodside identifies the gas fields as a “growth option” as part of its long-term strategy, describing it as “one of Australia’s largest undeveloped resources”.
The cuts are the latest blow to the state’s resources sector following a series of lay-offs in the iron ore industry this year.
Mining giant BHP confirms job cuts at its iron ore operations in Western Australia.
In June, Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Iron Ore confirmed job cuts at its Roy Hill operations.
In October, BHP announced it would axe up to 300 jobs across its WA iron ore operations in the Pilbara. A company spokesperson said the changes were necessary so BHP could continue to “make a significant contribution” to the region and the state.