Unbearable moment Aussie tech giant’s ‘Head of Vibe’ raves about staff’s ‘magical’ lives at Canva – but there’s a problem with his claim
Boasting Canva’s ‘head of vibe’ workplace, the company has introduced an employee ranking system
An employee at a large tech company with the bizarre title of ‘Head of Vibe’ has appeared in a rave interview as reports surfaced that the company had introduced a controversial employee ranking system.
Chris Lowe, who has been named ‘Head of Vibe’ at Canva Australia, appeared in a live interview on Channel 7’s Sunrise on Wednesday morning, following the news of Canva topping Fast Company’s 2023 Best Workplaces Innovators list.
The $25.6 billion graphic design software platform boasts that its contemporary workplace includes a dedicated chocolate chip cookie chef, gym classes, cooked meals, rooftop beehives and an annual ‘vibe allowance’.
While Mr Low admitted his title was ‘unusual’, he said Canva employees like himself ‘literally…bring vibes to the workplace every day’.
Mr Low said the Canva Australia team created ‘magical moments’ in the workplace every day.
But in separate reports, the company, which attracts 300,000 job applications a year, recently introduced an employee benchmarking system that grades employees out of five.
A Canva employee detailed how she was told she was among the company’s lowest-ranking employees.
‘It came out of nowhere,’ David – whose name has been changed to protect his identity – told the Australian Financial Review.
David says managers at the graphic design platform told him he was a ‘missing’ target, meaning he had moved down the staff.
‘Everyone is looking over their shoulder now,’ said David.
‘It’s all a bit surreal.’
The report revealed that Canva has introduced an employee benchmarking system that grades employees out of five
Mr Lowe said it had been a ‘momentous’ year for the graphic design platform
David said his Canva manager spoke to him about his performance from a pre-written script, but the company disputes this.
‘We don’t use pre-written scripts for performance conversations,’ a Canva spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
The spokesperson said the company has had the same performance system for more than two years and ‘no changes have been made in that time’.
They also said the company saw an increase in people in ‘our best performing categories’ compared to the bottom.
On winning the Fast Company award, Mr Low said in a statement that it had been a ‘momentous’ year for the technology platform.
‘Encouraging innovation has been at the core of our culture since the beginning and is a huge part of who we are today,’ he said.
‘We’re almost a decade into our journey now, but it still feels like we’re just getting started.’