I was laid off once, back in the day.
I remember the feeling. It's not fun being told your job is ending, especially when you weren't expecting it.
To their credit, the company gave me severance, which I appreciated. But it was nothing like what Canva is offering its departing employees.
Canva recently announced a major restructuring affecting a significant portion of its workforce. That's obviously not great news for the people impacted.
But what caught my attention was how they're handling it.
Here's some of what they're offering:
- At least six months of severance pay, including any statutory entitlements.
- Up to 12 months of continued healthcare coverage.
- Employees can keep their company-issued MacBooks to help with their job search.
- Equity protection, including removing the one-year vesting cliff for newer employees.
- A year of LinkedIn Premium, plus career coaching, resume help, and interview preparation.
- A $10,000 grant program for eligible employees interested in starting a business or community project.
And that's not even everything.
Now, I realize Canva is a large company with resources that most small and midsize businesses simply don't have. I'm certainly not suggesting that every employer should be offering six months of severance and a free laptop.
But I do think there's something worth learning here.
We spend a lot of time in the HR world talking about employee experience. Recruiting, onboarding, retention, benefits, company culture. All important things.
But what about the offboarding experience?
I've worked with enough employers over the years to know that layoffs and terminations aren't always avoidable. Businesses change. Sometimes positions get eliminated, even when the employee did absolutely nothing wrong.
And while you may not be able to change the decision, you can absolutely change how someone experiences it.
Maybe that means a little extra severance. Maybe it's helping someone find their next opportunity, giving them a good reference, or simply treating them with respect throughout the process.
Those things matter.
I've always believed that how a company treats its employees on the way out says just as much about its culture as how it treats them on the way in.
Canva isn't making layoffs a good thing. But they're showing that even when a company has to make difficult decisions, it can still make an effort to take care of its people.
And I think that's worth recognizing.