Canva's layoffs were a business decision. Making exits humane was a people decision.

From 4 am termination emails and abrupt Zoom calls to six months of salary, career coaching and alumni support, the way companies manage exits is becoming an important test of their people-first commitments.

Layoffs are rarely easy decisions for organisations. Slowing growth, business restructuring, changing market conditions and technological disruption can force even successful companies to reassess their workforce. But while the business case for reducing headcount may be difficult to avoid, how companies communicate and manage these decisions remains a choice.

Canva's latest restructuring has brought that distinction into focus.

On November 4, the Australian design platform announced that 1,271 employees, representing 22 per cent of its workforce, would be affected by organisational changes. The restructuring includes redundancies, role changes and employee relocations, although the company has not disclosed how many employees will lose their jobs outright.

In a message to employees, co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins described the decision as the hardest moment in Canva's 13-year history. The company cited slower growth, changing technology and the need to return to smaller, more empowered teams as reasons for the overhaul.

However, what has drawn particular attention is not just the scale of the restructuring, but the support Canva has committed to employees leaving the organisation.

Departing employees will receive at least six months of salary, inclusive of statutory entitlements, and 12 months of continued healthcare coverage in countries where Canva provides it. The company is also extending its employee assistance programme, Canva Care, for 12 months, including coverage for family members.

The package goes further. Employees will receive one-on-one career coaching, interview preparation, one year of LinkedIn Premium and access to an opt-in alumni talent directory that Canva will share with investors, partners and its wider industry network. Employees can also retain their company-issued MacBooks.

In another unusual measure, Canva has introduced a Collective Fund offering US$10,000 grants to departing employees who want to start a business or pursue a community initiative, without the company taking equity or ownership.

Perkins also acknowledged the personal consequences of the decision, recognising that the changes would affect not just employees but their families, friends and colleagues.

While no severance package can make redundancy painless, Canva's approach raises an important question for employers: Can employee experience remain a priority even after an organisation has decided that it no longer needs someone's role?

The question is particularly relevant given how Canva has spoken about its people strategy. In a recent interview, Charlotte Anderson, Head of People Experience at Canva, discussed how the organisation approaches creativity, leadership, experimentation and AI. One of her central arguments was that creativity should not remain the responsibility of specialist teams. Instead, it must become an organisational capability, supported by leadership behaviour and everyday workplace experiences.

"Creativity doesn't replace specialist expertise – it complements it," Anderson said.

Her perspective extended beyond design and innovation. She highlighted the importance of communication, influence and human understanding in functions such as finance and HR, where technical expertise alone may not be sufficient to create meaningful employee experiences.

For HR teams, this means thinking beyond policies, frameworks and diagnostics to consider how employees receive information, whether communication builds trust and whether people feel encouraged to participate.

That philosophy becomes particularly relevant during workforce restructuring.

When organisations are making decisions that directly affect employees' livelihoods, communication is no longer simply about announcing a business decision. It is about how leaders explain the rationale, acknowledge contributions, answer difficult questions and help people navigate what comes next.

Anderson's emphasis on the human side of organisational communication offers a useful lens through which to examine the employee experience during such moments. The test of a people strategy is not only whether employees feel empowered when business is performing well, but also whether leadership behaviour reflects those principles when circumstances become difficult.

The contrast with some high-profile technology sector layoffs is striking. In April 2023, Meta employees discovered they were losing their jobs through messages sent early in the morning. The company was implementing another round of its restructuring, expected to eliminate 10,000 jobs.

Some employees reported receiving notifications around 4 am, followed by the withdrawal of access to internal systems. For people who had spent years building relationships and contributing to the organisation, the abruptness of the process left little room for meaningful closure.

Another widely criticised example came from digital mortgage lender Better.com in December 2021. CEO Vishal Garg informed approximately 900 employees that they were being laid off during a brief Zoom call.

The announcement attracted widespread criticism, not simply because of the job cuts, but because of the manner in which they were delivered. The episode became a case study in how not to manage workforce reductions, particularly after Garg subsequently made public remarks about the productivity of departing employees.

These cases illustrate a recurring problem in workforce restructuring: companies may spend considerable time designing organisational changes but give insufficient attention to the experience of the people affected by them.

Anderson's observations about psychological safety and leadership behaviour offer another way of understanding this disconnect. She cautioned that workplace culture is defined less by corporate statements and more by how leaders react when things do not go according to plan.

"You can have all the innovation principles in the world, but if the first failed idea is treated as a mistake rather than a learning opportunity, that's the signal people remember," she said.

The same principle can be applied to organisational change. Employees pay attention to what leaders do when circumstances become uncomfortable, not just what they say during periods of growth.

If organisations expect employees to trust leadership, take risks and contribute ideas, the way they handle difficult conversations, including redundancies, becomes part of that trust equation.

Canva's approach also draws parallels with a precedent set by Airbnb during the pandemic. In May 2020, as global travel came to a standstill, Airbnb announced that it would reduce its workforce by nearly 1,900 employees, or approximately 25 per cent of its team.

CEO Brian Chesky's message to employees was unusually detailed. Rather than simply announcing the job cuts, he explained the business circumstances behind the decision, the principles used to determine redundancies and the support available to departing employees.

Airbnb committed to at least 14 weeks of salary, with additional pay based on tenure, alongside healthcare coverage and mental health support. It also removed the one-year equity vesting cliff for employees hired during the preceding year.

More significantly, the company turned part of its recruitment function into an Alumni Placement Team to help departing employees find new opportunities. It also created a public-facing talent directory, allowing former employees to share their profiles, resumes and work samples with prospective employers.

Chesky outlined principles guiding the reductions, including prioritising one-to-one communication, providing as much support as possible and waiting until all details were finalised before communicating decisions.

There is a clear parallel with Canva's decision to create an alumni talent directory and dedicate resources to helping departing employees secure their next roles.

Both approaches recognise that employees leaving an organisation are not simply former headcount. They are people whose skills, experience and contributions can continue to hold value across the wider industry.

Other organisations have also demonstrated how restructuring can be accompanied by efforts to support affected employees.

Google announced plans to eliminate approximately 12,000 roles in January 2023. In his message to employees, CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged responsibility for the decisions and outlined the support being offered.

In the US, affected employees were to receive a minimum 60-day notification period, severance starting at 16 weeks of salary, additional pay based on tenure, healthcare coverage for six months, job placement services and immigration support.

The announcement did not make the scale of the job cuts any less significant, but it demonstrated the importance of communicating the rationale and setting out practical support for people navigating the transition.

Similarly, during the pandemic, Opendoor's approach to workforce reductions drew attention for its emphasis on employee dignity. A former employee described how the company used a CEO-led communication to explain the decision, followed by individual manager notifications. 

Departing employees were given time to say goodbye to colleagues, while the organisation created a fundraiser to support those affected. The CEO reportedly contributed his annual salary to the fund.

These examples point towards a broader understanding of employee experience. It is not limited to recruitment, onboarding, engagement initiatives, learning opportunities or retention strategies. It also encompasses how organisations handle the end of employment.

One of the more important insights from Anderson's interview was her emphasis on creating the conditions for employees to speak up, experiment and contribute without fearing that doing so could damage their careers.

"People may have great ideas, but if sharing them feels like a career risk, or if creative thinking isn't recognised or rewarded, there's little reason to put those ideas forward," she said.

Although her observation was made in the context of creativity and innovation, it raises a wider question about the employee experience during organisational uncertainty: do employees feel safe enough to ask questions, seek clarity and express concerns when their future is at stake?

Restructuring can create uncertainty well beyond the employees whose roles are directly affected. Remaining employees may question the stability of their own positions, the rationale behind leadership decisions and whether the organisation's stated values will hold when business pressures intensify.

This is where leadership communication becomes particularly important.

Anderson also highlighted the importance of aligning organisational systems with leadership messages. If employees are encouraged to experiment but performance reviews penalise failure, the stated culture and actual workplace experience will remain disconnected.

A similar disconnect can emerge when organisations promote transparency and employee wellbeing but approach redundancies with limited communication, unclear processes or inadequate transition support.

For HR leaders, the challenge is to ensure that the principles underpinning employee experience are not abandoned when business conditions become difficult.

Canva's workforce changes also arrive amid a broader transformation in how technology companies organise work.

AI is changing the nature of many roles, the skills organisations require and the way teams are structured. In her interview with People Matters, Anderson argued that AI should be viewed as an accelerator of human creativity rather than a substitute for human judgement.

"AI is only ever as strong as the people directing it," she said.

She believes that as AI removes barriers such as blank-page anxiety, uncertainty and repetitive work, organisations will place greater value on critical thinking, curiosity, sound judgement and decision-making.

"The real differentiator will be people who know what questions to ask, what problems are worth solving and what ideas are worth pursuing," she added.

This shift has implications for workforce planning and restructuring. As businesses rethink the capabilities and roles they need, the responsibility of HR leaders extends beyond determining which positions are no longer required.

It also involves assessing whether employees can be redeployed, reskilled or moved into emerging roles before redundancy becomes the only option.

Where exits are unavoidable, organisations must consider how they can help employees translate their existing skills into opportunities elsewhere.

This is particularly relevant when businesses are restructuring to become smaller, more technology-enabled or more specialised. The ability to support people through that transition becomes an important part of responsible workforce planning.

Canva's restructuring is not necessarily a template that every organisation can replicate. Its financial commitments, including six months of salary, healthcare extensions and entrepreneurial grants, may be beyond the reach of smaller businesses. Nor does a generous exit package remove the uncertainty and disruption experienced by employees losing their jobs.

There are also legitimate reasons why companies may need to limit advance communication around redundancies, including confidentiality, regulatory obligations, business continuity and the risk of sensitive information being disclosed prematurely.

But these considerations do not eliminate the need for thoughtful communication and support.

A responsible exit process begins with explaining why the organisation is restructuring, how decisions have been reached and what they mean for individual employees. It also involves providing clarity on severance, benefits, notice periods and the practical steps employees need to take next.

Beyond financial assistance, employers can consider career transition services, access to professional networks, continued healthcare where feasible, references, alumni communities and opportunities for internal redeployment before roles are eliminated.

Equally important is how the remaining workforce experiences the process. Employees who stay are likely to be watching how their colleagues are treated. The way departing employees are handled can influence trust, morale and perceptions of leadership among those who remain.

Anderson's view that creativity must become part of how an organisation works, rather than remain a responsibility assigned to a select group, offers a broader lesson here. Culture is shaped by everyday decisions and behaviours, not simply by the values an organisation communicates.

Ultimately, a company's people-first philosophy is tested not only by how it attracts and retains talent during periods of growth, but also by how it treats people when it has to let them go.

The employee experience does not have to end with the employment contract. And perhaps the most telling measure of an organisation's culture is whether its people principles remain visible when the business is under pressure.