Canva Announces Layoffs Affecting Over 1,200 Employees
Its severance package is also raising questions about how businesses should handle workforce reductions.
Saeidreza Maghsoudi
Unfortunately, the news reflects a broader trend, as companies continue to cut staff and reorganize in response to changing market conditions. Canva, best known for its online graphic design platform, is cutting 22% of its workforce, affecting 1,271 people. In a note to employees, Co-Founder and CEO Melanie Perkins said that the company must now adapt its operations to address slowing growth. She also mentioned that "new technology" is "transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use".
Looking ahead, Canva is reorganizing by merging its product, growth, and platform teams, and it also plans to reduce "subspecialisation", potentially requiring employees to handle broader responsibilities. Additionally, Canva is shifting toward a hybrid work model, with employees expected to work from the office several days a week.
However, Canva is also drawing attention for its severance package and support for employees affected by the layoffs. All departing employees will receive six months' salary, regardless of their location, and the company will also remove the one-year vesting cliff for employees who joined within the past year. In addition, former employees will continue to receive healthcare benefits and career support, including one-on-one coaching, interview preparation, and a one-year LinkedIn Premium subscription. They will also be allowed to keep their company-issued MacBooks.
Canva has also established a fund offering $10,000 grants to employees interested in launching their own businesses.
"Over the past thirteen years, we've turned a dream in a pitch deck into a platform used by hundreds of millions of people. None of it would have been possible without the talent, imagination, and care of every single person who has been part of this journey. Yet success in our first chapter doesn't guarantee success in the next. This has been our hardest year yet, and as we shared earlier this year, our growth has slowed for the first time in a decade."
Just a year ago, Canva relaunched Affinity, which it acquired from Serif in 2024, making the creative software suite available for free. Earlier this week, the company also introduced a free iPad version of the creative suite.
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