Canva announces a support package for employees who leave the company during the restructuring, facing the most difficult situation in the company's 13-year history.

In a notice to employees in early November, co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said Canva would significantly change its organizational structure, the work location of some teams and the roles needed for the next phase. She called this the most difficult time in the company's 13-year history.

The restructuring affects 1,271 people, equivalent to 22% of the workforce. However, this is not the number of people who will definitely be fired: some will change roles or be asked to move to centralized locations, while some will have to leave the company. Canva has not announced the actual number of employees who lost their jobs.

What attracts attention is the support package for those who leave. According to Canva, each person will receive at least six months' salary, regardless of the country they work in. This includes mandatory statutory benefits, instead of being calculated entirely separately and added to other benefits.

Employees who leave the company also get to keep the MacBook Canva issued to them for work. Perkins explains that not everyone has a personal computer. For employees who joined in the past year, Canva waived the condition of having to work for a full year to enjoy equity benefits, helping those who had to leave the company early still have access to this benefit.

Additional support includes continued healthcare benefits for 12 months in countries where Canva offers them. Canva Care, the company's employee assistance program, is also being extended for a year and extended to family members.

On the job search side, leavers will receive personal career counseling, interview preparation, and LinkedIn Premium for a year. Canva said it will dedicate a significant portion of its recruitment team to support resume editing and interview practice. The company also builds a directory of volunteer participants, then shares it with investors, partners and industry networks to connect with new opportunities.

In addition to the transition support package, Canva launched the Canva Collective Fund with grants of $10,000 for employees leaving the company who want to start their own activities. The scope could be establishing a business or implementing a project that brings value to the local community.

As for the reason for the restructuring, Perkins said Canva's growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. As the company expands, work is divided among many groups and narrow specializations, causing product improvement to require too much handover and coordination.

Canva will merge the Product, Growth and Platform teams into one product organization, reducing management layers and consolidating overlapping responsibilities. Sydney will become the main focal point for more product groups. From January 2027, most employees under the hybrid model are expected to come into the office about two to three days per week.

Canva's restructuring takes place amid a wave of personnel adjustments in the technology industry, when many businesses have to rebalance resources under the pressure of growth and the rapid development of AI. However, Canva has not directly attributed the layoffs to AI replacing workers, but emphasized the need to simplify the organization and change operations.

In the context of many companies continuously announcing job cuts, Canva's policies for departures also received positive feedback on social networks. According to Fast Company, many comments under CEO Melanie Perkins' post appreciated the way the company communicated decisions and supported employees. Jasveer Singh, CEO of KnotDating, also praised the thoughtfulness, candor and generosity of the announcement. Compliments focused on how Canva supported workers through the transition period, even though losing a job still brought many difficulties and uncertainties.

Tuan Nguyen