# Canva Layoffs 2026: The Restructuring Targets Handovers Author: Marin Niehues, Niehues Consulting · Published: 2026-11-09 · Organisation Design Source: https://www.niehuesconsulting.de/en/blog/canva-restructuring-lessons-for-organisations/ In the Canva layoffs of 2026 the company is targeting the handovers between its units, because until now every improvement to the product had to be agreed between Product, Growth and Platform. On 3 November 2026 co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced that these three units will merge into one product organisation, that management layers will be simplified and that more teams will be concentrated in Sydney. The change affects 1,271 people, around 22 percent of the workforce. For mid-sized companies the logic of the team design transfers directly, whereas the exit transfers mainly in its attitude: according to a disclosed calculation, employees dismissed in Germany after eight or more years of service receive more through notice and severance under Section 1a of the Protection Against Dismissal Act (KSchG), if the employer offers it, than Canva's minimum of six months' salary. **Key facts at a glance** - On 3 November 2026 Canva CEO Melanie Perkins announced a restructuring that affects 1,271 people, around 22 percent of the workforce. - Product, Growth and Platform are merging into one product organisation, layers are being simplified and more product teams will be based at the headquarters in Sydney. - The trigger is the first slowdown in growth in a decade. In August 2026 Canva cut its growth forecast from 30 to 20 percent according to Fortune. - According to a Canva spokesperson, AI is not replacing the roles affected. - Departing staff receive at least six months' salary, around 26 weeks, while the technology sector paid an average of 11.2 weeks in 2024. **Canva is changing the design of its organisation because the delay comes from handovers between units. For mid-sized companies the lever on the exit lies in support and sequence, because with long tenure notice and offered severance under Section 1a KSchG already exceed Canva's minimum.** ## Canva is restructuring 1,271 roles after growth slowed for the first time in a decade Canva is changing the roles of 1,271 people because growth slowed in 2026 for the first time in a decade and, in its CEO's words, small changes are no longer enough. In the note ["An important update on our team"](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/canva-team-update/) of 3 November 2026 in Canva's newsroom, Perkins writes that 22 percent of Canva is affected. Canva has not said how many people will leave, [The Register](https://www.theregister.com/saas/2026/11/04/aussie-adobe-assailant-canva-announces-layoffs-in-re-org-affecting-22-of-staff/5307422) reported on 4 November 2026. Perkins does not cite financial pressure. In August, according to [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/11/06/canva-layoffs-severance-package-praised-melanie-perkins/) on 6 November 2026, Canva had cut its revenue growth forecast for 2026 from 30 to 20 percent. The privately held company reported 3.5 billion US dollars in revenue for the previous year and according to its management is profitable on a free cash flow basis (The Register). **The restructuring in numbers** - 1,271 | people are affected through a cut role, a new role or a relocation - 22 % | of the workforce, by our own calculation around 5,800 employees in total - 20 % | expected revenue growth in 2026, down from a forecast of 30 percent ## Product, Growth and Platform slow Canva down because every improvement touches three units Separate units for product, growth and platform slow Canva down because an improvement for the user almost always touches all three, so it has to be agreed between three leadership teams with their own targets. According to the note, improving one part of the product often requires more handovers and coordination than necessary. In the 1968 essay ["How Do Committees Invent?"](https://www.melconway.com/Home/Committees_Paper.html) Melvin Conway described how organisations design systems that copy their own communication structures. A company that runs product, growth and platform separately therefore ends up with a product at whose seams every change waits for coordination. In ["Team Topologies"](https://teamtopologies.com/book) (2019) Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais conclude that teams should be designed along the value stream, with platform teams acting as service providers to them. Canva's restructuring follows this logic because growth will in future be owned within the same organisation that builds the product. The note names three levers that mid-sized companies can read as a framework with one metric each. According to Perkins, Canva started with its goals, derived structures, skills and locations from them and only then looked at individual roles, so the restructuring was not planned around the current holders of each position. **Three levers of the Canva restructuring and their metric in mid-sized companies** Lever | Step at Canva | Test question in a mid-sized company | Metric Team design | one product organisation instead of three units | How many units does a customer requirement touch? | Handovers per requirement Roles and layers | broader roles, fewer layers | How many teams share one outcome? | Teams per outcome, layers up to the decision Location | more product teams in Sydney, two to three office days from January | Do the people involved in a decision work in the same place? | Waiting time for coordination meetings In mid-sized companies the same pattern appears when sales, product management, engineering and IT work separately on one offering. Interfaces, permanent product teams and the number of layers are covered in [Breaking down silos](/en/blog/breaking-down-silos/), [Product organisation](/en/blog/product-organisation-projects-to-products/) and [Spans and layers](/en/blog/spans-and-layers-management-levels/). ## Canva justifies the restructuring with its structure and rules out AI replacing roles Canva justifies the restructuring with handovers, subspecialisation and distance between teams and rules out that AI is replacing the roles of those affected. A spokesperson told Fortune that the changes are about setting Canva up to build new products. AI is not being used to do the work of the people who are leaving. The note does not mention AI and refers to new technology that is changing what people create and what they expect from products. Technology therefore changes the market, while Canva's response addresses team design, layers and accountability. This distinction between trigger and response is instructive, because an executive team that justifies job cuts with AI although the delay comes from handovers will look for automation where a new structure would achieve more. Whether a new team design or automation brings more speed can only be decided once the friction in the company's own structure is available in figures. How an AI justification was received at a German company is described in [Job Cuts at IONOS and 1&1: AI Explains Only Part of Them](/en/blog/job-cuts-ai-justification-ionos/). On 23 October 2026 American Express chose a third route and removed layers in order to automate afterwards, as described in [American Express job cuts](/en/blog/american-express-spans-of-control-ai/). ## Canva's severance of 26 weeks is more than double the tech industry average With at least six months' salary including statutory entitlements, Canva pays departing employees more than twice what the technology sector pays on average, regardless of country. According to the note, the Canva Care counselling service continues for twelve months, as does health insurance in countries where Canva currently provides it. For employees who joined in the past year, the one-year vesting cliff for their equity is removed. On top of this come coaching, an alumni directory for investors and partners and grants of 10,000 US dollars from the Canva Collective Fund for their own ventures, in which Canva takes no equity. The [breakdown by industry](https://www.challengergray.com/blog/industry-breakdown-whos-paying-the-most-in-severance-and-why/) from the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows 11.2 weeks of pay for technology in 2024. Canva's minimum of around 26 weeks is a floor for everyone affected, while the industry figures are averages. ::: diagramm Canva pays at least 26 weeks of salary, more than double the technology sector average - Chemicals, average 2024 | 35.3 | 35.3 weeks - Media, average 2024 | 28.1 | 28.1 weeks - !Canva, minimum 2026 | 26 | 26 weeks - Banking and finance, average 2024 | 22.2 | 22.2 weeks - Healthcare, average 2024 | 21.1 | 21.1 weeks - !Technology, average 2024 | 11.2 | 11.2 weeks - Retail, average 2024 | 10.2 | 10.2 weeks Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Severance Pay by Industry, 2025 report with data for 2024; Canva Newsroom, 3 November 2026; Canva: six months' salary, around 26 weeks Canva is acting against the trend in the United States. For the [2027 Severance and Separation Benefits Benchmark Study](https://www.lhh.com/en-us/insights/severance-and-separation-practices-benchmark-study) of the outplacement firm LHH, published on 23 October 2026, 600 HR and business leaders at US organisations were surveyed. According to the study, 38 percent made their severance policy less generous over the two years before the survey. In the 2024 study, which asked about the previous three years, the figure was 9 percent. ::: diagramm The share of US companies cutting severance has more than quadrupled since 2024 - Made severance more generous, 2024 study | 76 | 76 % - Made severance more generous, 2027 study | 56 | 56 % - Medical cover for full severance period, 2024 study | 52 | 52 % - Medical cover for full severance period, 2027 study | 12 | 12 % - Made severance less generous, 2024 study | 9 | 9 % - !Made severance less generous, 2027 study | 38 | 38 % Source: LHH, Severance and Separation Benefits Benchmark Study 2027, published 23 October 2026; base n = 600 HR and business leaders at US organisations with 500 or more employees; 2024 study: change over the previous three years, 2027 study: over the previous two Russell Williams of LHH told Fortune that a package with all of these components is the exception. The sequence of communication is planned just as carefully. Those affected receive an invitation to an optional one-to-one meeting and keep access to Slack and Gmail until the end of the week, so that they can decide when to say goodbye. The rest of the workforce comes together for a company-wide meeting on 10 November, followed by meetings of the reorganised units from 11 November. How to prepare job cuts in this order is described in [Communicating layoffs](/en/blog/communicating-layoffs/). ## With offered Section 1a KSchG severance, Germany exceeds Canva after eight years If the employer offers severance under Section 1a KSchG, employees dismissed for operational reasons in Germany receive more than Canva's six months' salary after eight years of service, including notice, so Canva's package only exceeds it for short tenures. The law does not create a claim to this severance. Under [Section 622 (2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__622.html) the employer's notice period rises from one month after two years to seven months after 20 years. For severance, [Section 1a KSchG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/kschg/__1a.html) sets 0.5 months' earnings for each year of employment in dismissals for operational reasons, provided the employer offers it in the notice and the deadline for legal action passes. Because Canva's six months include statutory entitlements, the calculation adds both figures together. ::: diagramm After eight years of service, notice and offered severance under Section 1a KSchG exceed Canva's six months' salary - 2 years of service | 2 | 2.0 months - 5 years of service | 4.5 | 4.5 months - !Canva, minimum at any tenure | 6 | 6.0 months - !8 years of service | 7 | 7.0 months - 10 years of service | 9 | 9.0 months - 15 years of service | 13.5 | 13.5 months - 20 years of service | 17 | 17.0 months Source: Niehues Consulting calculation based on Section 622 (2) BGB and Section 1a (2) KSchG; months' salary from the employer's notice period plus 0.5 months' earnings per year of employment, excluding social plans and employer contributions A calculation with disclosed assumptions shows what this means for a mid-sized company. A company with 300 employees cuts 30 positions (10 percent). Ten of those affected each have three, eight and 15 years of service. The gross monthly salary is 4,500 euros. Together, notice and Section 1a KSchG come to 230 months' salary or 1.04 million euros. A six-month minimum modelled on Canva only raises the first group and costs 157,500 euros or around 15 percent extra. **Calculation for 30 departures at a company with 300 employees** Group | Notice period in months | Severance Section 1a KSchG in months' salary | Total in months' salary | With a six-month minimum 10 people, 3 years | 1 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 6 10 people, 8 years | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 10 people, 15 years | 6 | 7.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 All 30 at 4,500 euros | 450,000 euros | 585,000 euros | 1,035,000 euros | 1,192,500 euros For workforces with long tenure a minimum modelled on Canva therefore costs little, while it helps those who leave after a short time. The larger difference from Canva lies in support with the job search, sharing contacts and the sequence of conversations. A restructuring of this size is usually an operational change in Germany, for which management negotiates a reconciliation of interests with the works council and agrees a social plan whose benefits may differ from this calculation. The process is described in [Operational change in reorganisations](/en/blog/operational-change-social-plan-germany/). This overview does not constitute legal advice. ## Executive teams in mid-sized companies should measure handovers before changing team design Executive teams in mid-sized companies can derive a five-step approach from the Canva case that starts and ends with measuring handovers: 1. Measure handovers (weeks 1 to 4, commercial director or COO): For the ten most frequent customer requirements, record how often ownership changes and how long the requirement waits. The metrics are handovers per requirement and the share of waiting time in the lead time. 2. Set the justification (month 2, executive team): Name the measured cause and mention AI only where it demonstrably takes over tasks. The success criterion is that the works meeting, the reconciliation of interests and the message to customers contain the same justification. 3. Plan the team design in Canva's order (months 2 and 3, executive team with heads of department): goals first, then structures, skills and locations, individual roles last. The metrics are teams per customer outcome and layers between customer and decision. 4. Budget the exit (before the announcement, HR director with the works council): Calculate entitlements per person by tenure, consider a minimum for short tenures and set the sequence of conversations. The metric is the share of departing staff in a new job after six months. 5. Review the effect (month 12, controlling): The same metrics as in step 1 show whether the new team design has reduced handovers. How to set up this review is described in [Measuring reorganisation success after twelve months](/en/blog/reorganisation-success-after-twelve-months/). ## Niehues Consulting combines organisation design and delivery [Niehues Consulting](/en/) supports executive teams and heads of department in building organisations that deliver reliably. Organisation design creates structures and decision paths for day-to-day business and for transformation. In delivery management, a delivery manager or product owner steers the programme until the change has arrived in operations. Where AI enters the workflows, a business case and a prototype are added, followed by introduction in the business units. The approach follows the Niehues Delivery Model with its phases Understand, Build and Introduce. Before a restructuring it asks three questions. In Understand: who decides, who delivers, who uses? In Build: which roles, decision paths and interfaces do operations require? In Introduce: are users enabled and workflows adapted? Founder Marin Niehues, a management consultant from the delivery side, builds organisations that deliver. His projects range from venture-backed scale-ups to DAX 40 groups, with assignments in more than 20 countries on six continents. In the free 30-minute initial consultation you assess together where handovers slow decisions down in your organisation and which team design shortens them: [book a consultation](/en/#kontakt). **What executives can take from the Canva case** Canva is merging Product, Growth and Platform because every improvement had to be agreed between three units. At a minimum of 26 weeks' salary the exit package is more than twice the technology sector average. German companies can adopt the structural logic directly, while on the exit their lever lies in support and sequence, because notice and offered severance under Section 1a KSchG already exceed Canva's minimum after eight years of service. **Sources** - [Canva Newsroom: An important update on our team](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/canva-team-update/), 3 November 2026 - [The Register: Aussie Adobe assailant Canva announces layoffs in re-org affecting 22% of staff](https://www.theregister.com/saas/2026/11/04/aussie-adobe-assailant-canva-announces-layoffs-in-re-org-affecting-22-of-staff/5307422), 4 November 2026 - [Fortune: report on Canva's severance package](https://fortune.com/2026/11/06/canva-layoffs-severance-package-praised-melanie-perkins/), 6 November 2026 - [Challenger, Gray & Christmas: Industry Breakdown, Who's Paying the Most in Severance and Why](https://www.challengergray.com/blog/industry-breakdown-whos-paying-the-most-in-severance-and-why/), 2025 report with data for 2024 - [LHH: Severance and Separation Benefits Benchmark Study 2027](https://www.lhh.com/en-us/insights/severance-and-separation-practices-benchmark-study), 23 October 2026 - [Section 622 BGB](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__622.html) and [Section 1a KSchG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/kschg/__1a.html) - [Melvin E. Conway: How Do Committees Invent?](https://www.melconway.com/Home/Committees_Paper.html), Datamation, April 1968 - [Matthew Skelton, Manuel Pais: Team Topologies](https://teamtopologies.com/book), IT Revolution Press, 2019 ::: faq Frequently asked questions ### When did Canva announce the layoffs? CEO Melanie Perkins announced the restructuring on 3 November 2026 in a note titled "An important update on our team". A company-wide meeting follows on 10 November, after which the reorganised units meet from 11 November. ### Why is Canva restructuring its organisation? Canva is restructuring because growth slowed in 2026 for the first time in a decade and every improvement had to be agreed between Product, Growth and Platform. The three units are merging into one product organisation. ### How many employees are affected by Canva's restructuring? The restructuring affects 1,271 people, around 22 percent of the workforce, who lose their role, change roles or are asked to relocate. Canva has not disclosed how many will leave the company. ### Is Canva replacing the roles with AI? According to a Canva spokesperson the roles are not being replaced by AI. The changes are about setting Canva up to build new products. AI is not being used to do the work of the people who are leaving. ### What do employees leaving Canva receive? Departing employees receive at least six months' salary including statutory entitlements, coaching and twelve months of health insurance where Canva currently provides it. They can also register by 14 December for grants of 10,000 US dollars for their own ventures. ### How much would Canva-style severance be worth in Germany? If the employer offers severance under Section 1a KSchG, employees dismissed for operational reasons receive more than six months' salary after eight years of service, including notice. After two years this calculation gives two months' salary, after 15 years 13.5. A social plan may differ from this. ### What can German companies learn from the Canva case? German companies can learn to measure the handovers in their own structure before a restructuring and to base the justification on that cause. Management plans the exit with the works council before the announcement. A minimum for short tenures costs little.