More Than 1,200 Canva Staff Get Expanded Layoff Support

By Priya Raman

More than 1,200 employees at design software company Canva will receive exit packages beyond corporate norms after Canva cut 22% of its workforce, the company said this week.

Canva announced the reduction Tuesday. Its support reaches beyond severance and healthcare, covering job-search tools and a possible new business.

Canva’s exit package

• Severance and extended healthcare coverage.
• One-on-one interview preparation and one year of LinkedIn Premium.
• Access to an employee-alumni directory for networking.
• The option to apply for $10,000 grants to start something of their own.

For a departing designer, the package can directly reduce costs of interviews, professional networking and launching a new venture during a difficult job search.

Access to career resources is not unusual. A handful of employers, however, are providing substantially more support as workers enter a challenging market.

Such packages can soften the blow of a pink slip, limit public backlash and reassure employees who remain, according to HR and outplacement advisers.

Greg Simpson, global practice leader for career transition and mobility at talent solutions and advisory firm LHH, said: “It does not surprise us to see an offer that’s like this.”

Simpson said the emphasis on reskilling may reflect layoffs becoming commonplace in the AI era, creating greater corporate responsibility toward departing workers.

Employer-funded transitions

• Verizon: Announced more than 13,000 job cuts last year, then established a $20 million reskilling and career transition fund covering more than 30,000 courses and 80 professional certificate programs aligned with “in-demand skills.”
• Chevron: Plans to cut up to 20% of its workforce by the end of this year. It says on its website that an educational assistance program will reimburse up to 75% of qualifying coursework costs for laid-off employees.

The programs address different individual needs. Verizon’s fund supports structured training and certificates, Chevron’s program offsets course fees, and Canva’s package funds interview preparation, networking access and possible business grants.

None of the three company disclosures reports placement rates for departing workers. The missing figures limit direct comparisons between the programs and their likely effects on individual job searches.

Broader layoff evidence

LHH’s 2026 report found that 87% of HR leaders said their organizations had recently made layoffs or planned to do so over the next year, while more than 75% said layoffs were ongoing.

The report also covered 418,000 laid-off workers whom LHH supported. About 58% moved into an entirely new career in 2025, a proportion that has remained steady since 2022.

These figures describe LHH’s caseload, not a national sample of displaced workers. The report summary gives no HR-leader survey sample size. It also supplies no national hiring rate, role-level layoff rate or revision to the published figures.

What does this change for a worker facing a layoff?

For a worker facing a cut, an enhanced exit package can fund interview preparation, new certificates and paid courses that connect one occupation with another before a job search begins.

Canva’s offer provides interview help, professional-network access and possible start-up capital. Verizon’s fund favors workers seeking defined courses and credentials. Chevron’s reimbursement supports workers choosing qualifying education.

The practical test is whether the package provides a route to interviews, credentials or paid work. LHH’s finding that 58% of supported workers changed careers offers one benchmark, but it does not show that the three company programs guarantee a successful move.

Access remains uneven. Corporate support now ranges from basic severance and healthcare to training, coaching and capital, so workers should compare benefits and eligibility rules before accepting an exit.

With 87% of HR leaders reporting recent or planned layoffs, the next test is whether more substantial transition packages become standard practice rather than a selective perk offered by a small group of employers.