Envato cutting 200 roles in AI-driven restructure
Envato is laying off around 200 employees, roughly a third of its 600-person headcount, citing AI automation and strategic realignment following its acquisition by Shutterstock.
The Melbourne-founded creative marketplace confirmed the cuts affect teams globally, including sales functions across Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and the US. CEO Hichame Assi told staff the restructure aims to "reduce the number of layers, creating smaller and more focused teams."
What this means for sales roles
Envato has not disclosed specific numbers for sales positions affected, but the company-wide cuts include "redundancies, redeployments, role changes, promotions and reporting line changes" across all functions.
The 20-year-old company previously cut around 100 roles in mid-2022. This round comes 10 months after Shutterstock acquired Envato for $372 million in May 2024.
The AI angle
Assi explicitly cited AI as a driver, saying the changes respond to "rapidly changing customer expectations" and the need to execute strategy in an AI-disrupted market. Worth noting: creative marketplaces like Envato face direct competition from generative AI tools that can produce design assets on demand.
This follows a pattern across ANZ tech. Sales teams at companies selling creative tools or content are particularly exposed as AI shifts buying behaviour and deal cycles.
Market context
Envato joins a growing list of ANZ tech companies restructuring post-acquisition. Integration often means duplicated sales functions get consolidated, territories get redrawn, and comp structures get harmonised to the parent company's model.
For sales professionals in the creative tech space, this is a signal: AI is not just changing what customers buy, it is changing how many sellers are needed to sell it. Companies are betting they can hit numbers with smaller, "more focused" teams supported by automation.
No severance details have been disclosed. Envato has not announced hiring plans or whether any sales roles will be backfilled.