Canva To Cut 22% Of Its Workforce, But Its Generous Severance Package Is Winning Praise Online

Graphic design platform Canva is set to lay off employees as part of a major restructuring that will affect 1,271 people, or about 22% of its global workforce.

Canva has outlined a support package for departing employees, which has drawn attention online for the range of benefits offered.

The package includes at least six months' salary, inclusive of statutory entitlements, regardless of employees' locations.

Affected employees will also be allowed to keep their company-issued MacBooks and receive 12 months of continued healthcare coverage in countries where the benefit is currently provided.

Other support includes 12 months of Canva's employee assistance programme, one year of LinkedIn Premium, one-on-one career coaching and interview preparation.

The company will also remove the one-year vesting cliff for employees who joined within the past year, allowing them to retain shares that would otherwise have been subject to that requirement.

In addition, Canva is launching the Canva Collective Fund, which will provide US$10,000 grants to departing employees who want to start a business or pursue projects that benefit their communities.

Employees affected by the changes have until 14 Dec 2026, to register their interest in the grants. Canva said it would not take ownership or equity in the ventures they create.

The changes, announced by co-founder and chief executive Melanie Perkins, will reshape the company's organisational structure, team locations and staffing requirements.

Canva said it would merge its Product, Growth and Platform teams into a single Product organisation, while consolidating overlapping responsibilities and reducing management layers.

The company will also make Sydney the primary base for more of its product teams, with some employees asked to consider relocating.

From January, most employees on hybrid arrangements are expected to work in the office two to three days a week, depending on their location.

The restructuring comes after Canva reported that its growth had slowed for the first time in a decade.

Perkins said the company needed to return to smaller, more empowered teams with greater ownership and autonomy.

The announcement has drawn praise online, with some netizens describing it as an example of how severance packages should be handled, while others commended Perkins for her empathy towards affected employees.