The CEO of a major software company has been praised for offering a generous severance package to the nearly 1,300 people her company is laying off.
Melanie Perkins, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Canva, announced on Tuesday that she and her company would be laying off 1,271 people, or 22 percent of the workforce, citing 'new technology' and a quickly-changing world.
The leader of the Australian design software firm, best known for its graphic design platform, wrote in a public note: 'Behind every decision is someone we care deeply about, and I know the consequences will be very real for those directly affected, their families, friends and teammates.'
In her note, Perkins announced a raft of measures designed to support the affected staff, who reside in 37 countries.
These included at least six months pay, a year of healthcare coverage and a year of LinkedIn Premium.
On top of this, staff will be allowed to keep their work MacBooks.
Perkins also announced a grant program called the 'Canva Collective Fund,' which she said aims to support former employees 'who want to start something of their own.'
She indicated that the fund is a no-strings-attached arrangement as Canva will not be taking any 'ownership or equity' in projects.
Melanie Perkins, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Canva, (pictured at a 2019 talk in Lisbon, Portugal) announced that she and her company would be laying off 1,271 people
Canva is headquartered in Sydney, Australia
Many quickly praised Canva's CEO for the announcement. One LinkedIn user wrote: 'Plenty of companies will do layoffs this year. Few will do them like this.'
Another said: 'The way you have communicated this change with compassion and empathy is really impressive. Many leaders could learn a thing or two from this.'
And a third wrote: 'As someone who has been impacted by role reduction, this approach, clarity and care for departing folks is beyond kind and humane.'
Perkins co-founded Canva in 2013 with her now-husband Cliff Obrecht after dropping out of university at the age of 19 to launch her first start-up.
But the mass adoption of AI technology has left it in poor shape in recent years.
Two of its own backers, Blackbird Ventures and Airtree, downgraded Canva's valuation from $41.8bn to $34bn.
And Canva itself cut its own internal valuation amid rising AI expenses related to the rollout of new products.
Despite this, Perkins is estimated to be worth $7.6bn according to Forbes.
Though the global tech sector has been growing in value over the last year, with the NASDAQ Composite growing more than 11 percent since January, hundreds of thousands of people have been laid off.
TrueUp, a service that tracks tech layoffs, reported that more than 204,000 people have been laid off across the world.
The worst month was in March, which saw more than 50,000 people get sacked.
TrueUp estimates that up to 242,000 people will be fired from the tech sector by the end of the year, slightly higher than last year.
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