Design software company Canva announced a major restructuring that will affect 1,271 employees (22% of its workforce). While the move has been controversial job security in tech the severance package for departing employees has gotten lots of attention.
Canva is giving affected employees at least six months of salary, healthcare support, career assistance and the option to keep their company-issued MacBooks. It’s also providing financial grants to departing employees who want to start businesses or community projects on their own.
The restructuring was announced on 4 November 2026 by co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins who called it the hardest decision in the company’s 13 years.
Not all 1,271 employees will lose their jobs however. The restructuring also includes changing existing roles and moving some teams to centralised offices.
What Is Canva Offering Employees Who Are Leaving?
Canva’s severance package includes several financial and professional support measures to help departing employees prepare for their next opportunity.
Here are the key benefits announced by the company:
1. At Least Six Months' Salary
Employees leaving Canva will be paid at least six months salary (including statutory entitlements) wherever they are working.
This gives employees affected by layoff money to live on while they look for new work or think about other career paths.
2. Employees Can Keep Their MacBooks
One of the benefits getting a lot of attention is Canva’s decision to let departing employees keep their company-issued MacBooks.
The company has said that not everyone owns a personal laptop and retaining the device could allow employees to continue working on job applications, professional projects and other activities.
3. Healthcare Coverage for Up to 12 Months
Employees who leave Canva will continue to have healthcare coverage for up to 12 months in countries where we currently offer this benefit (if available).
Employees and their families will also have access to Canva Care (the company’s employee assistance programme) for one year after the merger.
Availability and terms of healthcare benefits vary by country.
4. LinkedIn Premium and Career Assistance
Canva is also providing professional support to employees as they prepare for their next career move.
The package includes:
- One-year LinkedIn Premium subscription.
- One-on-one career coaching.
- Resume-writing assistance.
- Interview preparation.
- An opt-in alumni directory that matches former employees with professional opportunities.
These benefits are meant to help departing employees get better job-search positions and maintain professional connections.
5. $10,000 Grants Through Canva Collective Fund
Canva is launching the Canva Collective Fund which will provide US$10,000 grants to eligible departing employees who want to start their own businesses or work on community projects.
The grants will not require recipients to give up equity in their ventures.
This is another option for employees who might want to explore entrepreneurship (rather than immediately looking for another corporate job).
6. Changes to Employee Stock Vesting
Canva is also changing its employee equity arrangements.
Employees who joined in the past 12 months won’t be hit with the usual one-year vesting cliff eligible employees can keep equity that otherwise would have been unvested because they didn’t meet the period requirement.
Why Is Canva Laying Off 1,271 Employees?
The job cuts are part of a wider organisational restructuring that Canva is undertaking to prepare it for its next phase of growth.
In a message to staff, Melanie Perkins said growth was slowing for the first time in a decade.
She said the organisation had become too divided between specialised teams so there were more coordination requirements and it was harder to keep projects clear.
The company wants to simplify its management structure, bring together overlapping responsibilities and give smaller teams more independence.
Canva will also combine its Product, Growth and Platform teams into one Product organisation.
Perkins says the goal is to get rid of handovers that don’t need to be done and so employees can spend more time developing products rather than moving around internal processes.
Is AI to Blame for Canva’s Job Cuts?
The restructuring comes at a time when artificial intelligence is changing the design software industry.
Canva has been expanding its AI design capabilities but also facing competition from other technology companies and AI platforms that have image generation, presentation creation and content development tools.
But the company has generally framed the latest restructuring as an organisational change to simplify operations and respond to slower growth.
So it would be wrong to say all 1,271 positions are being eliminated because of AI.
The broader competitive environment, rising technology costs and changing customer expectations are all important factors in understanding the company’s restructuring.
Canva to Consolidate Teams and Shift More Employees to Centralised Offices
Alongside job cuts Canva is also changing how its remaining teams work.
The company wants Sydney to be the main base for more product teams and is asking some employees to move to centralised hubs.
Most hybrid employees (teams and roles included) will work from the office two to three days a week from January 2027.
The changes are designed to increase collaboration and give teams clearer responsibility for product development.
Canva's Layoff Package Draws Attention Amid Global Tech Job Cuts
Canva’s announcement comes as layoffs continue around the globe in the tech industry.
Companies are restructuring operations, consolidating teams and re-examining skills needed to stay competitive.
What makes Canva’s announcement interesting is the support being offered to departing employees.
Six months of salary helps with the financial side, healthcare coverage, career coaching, professional networking support and entrepreneurship grants help with other challenges that come with losing a job.
The package has also sparked conversations about how companies should treat employees during layoffs.
But a big severance package doesn’t eliminate the financial and emotional pain of losing one’s job.
For the impacted employees, the first thing to do will be to transition through the process and find their next job.
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