Canva's Severance Package For Laid-Off Employees Wins Praise Online: Here's What It Entails

Canva's restructuring has resulted in the layoff of 1,271 employees, comprising 22% of its global workforce. In response to the significant job cuts, the Australian design platform has garnered praise for its generous severance package. Affected staff members are entitled to at least six months of salary, extended healthcare coverage, career support services, and their company-issued MacBooks.

Moreover, departing workers can apply for a $10,000 grant to start a business or community project. The pay package covers statutory entitlements, with healthcare benefits lasting up to 12 months in countries where Canva already offers the benefit. The company also provides a year of access to Canva Care, its employee assistance program, along with career assistance such as one-on-one coaching, CV reviews, interview preparation, and a year of LinkedIn Premium access.

Additionally, Canva's talent acquisition team will assist laid-off employees in finding new roles, and those who joined the company within the past year will retain their equity, as the one-year vesting cliff has been eliminated. A new fund, the Canva Collective Fund, offers $10,000 grants to those who wish to initiate a business or community project, with no expectation of Canva retaining equity or ownership in these ventures.

Employees can register for the fund until December 14. CEO Melanie Perkins announced the restructuring in a note on November 3, describing it as the most challenging moment in the company's 13-year history, citing slowing growth for the first time in a decade in 2026. The company intends to consolidate its Product, Growth, and Platform teams into a single Product organization, with fewer layers of management and smaller teams.

Most hybrid staff members will be required to work in the office two to three days per week starting January 2027. While Perkins did not specifically mention artificial intelligence, a Canva spokesperson clarified that the changes aim to position the company for building digital products, not to replace employees with AI. Online reactions to the announcement have been largely positive, with many hailing the company's approach to layoffs as exemplary.

However, some individuals have expressed sadness and disappointment over their layoff, with one former employee describing their feelings as "sad and devastated."