Canva Adds Chocolate Fountain For Staff Who Still Have Jobs

Canva has unveiled a chocolate fondue fountain for its remaining employees, giving staff a warm place to gather while working out which of their colleagues still works there.

The fountain has been installed in the cafeteria beneath a small sign thanking everyone for their contribution. Employees are invited to take a strawberry, approach from either side, and spend a few minutes enjoying a benefit that has survived the organizational review.

The move follows Canva’s restructuring announcement, which affects 1,271 people, or 22 percent of its workforce, through layoffs, role changes or relocation. The company is now helping those who remain process the changes by showing them what happens when chocolate is pumped steadily up a tube.

“It’s important that our people continue to feel supported,” said a workplace experience representative, handing an employee a wooden skewer. “There’s been a lot of uncertainty, and we wanted to give everyone something tangible. You can stand here and watch it keep coming out. That’s quite reassuring.”

Staff were initially unsure whether they were allowed to use it. One designer said she had seen a calendar invitation titled A Sweet New Chapter and assumed it was another conversation about her role. She arrived with a notebook, a glass of water and the expression of someone who had already told her partner to stay near the phone.

The fountain’s launch was moved to the afternoon after a manager noticed that the original time overlapped with several difficult individual meetings. A revised invitation assured employees that attendance was optional and that the fountain itself would remain in position. This was the first confirmation many had received about anything remaining in position.

Catering has provided marshmallows as well as strawberries, allowing the newly consolidated teams to choose how they want to engage. A staff member asked whether there would be pineapple. The request was redirected to the broader Fruit Experience owner, who is also covering workplace photography and two product responsibilities previously held by people who have left.

Company leaders said the fountain would encourage spontaneous connections across the organization. Within minutes, a product designer met a colleague from growth, discovered they now shared the same manager, and asked whether either of them knew what that manager did. They agreed the chocolate was good. There was a pause. They took another strawberry.

The machine has four tiers, which caused some concern among employees who had just attended a presentation about reducing layers. Workplace experience explained that the tiers were essential to the fountain’s function. Several people said they understood and looked down at their plates.

A cheerful photo session was arranged to capture the launch. Staff were asked to stand closer together so the empty part of the cafeteria would not dominate the frame. One employee tried to smile while holding two skewers because she had picked up an extra one for a teammate out of habit. The photographer suggested she put the second skewer down.

Leadership has emphasized that the fountain is available to everyone whose building access still works. Departing colleagues can continue to enjoy the photographs in farewell messages, subject to whether those messages arrive before their accounts close. Nobody has established who is meant to remove people from the cafeteria birthday list.

The company is measuring the initiative through a brief staff survey. The first question asks whether the fountain has improved morale. The second asks which snacks people would like to see next. An employee who selected Other began typing a sentence about job security before realizing the field had a 40-character limit.

A manager said staff should feel comfortable acknowledging complicated emotions during the transition. They could be grateful for the chocolate and sad about their colleagues at the same time. She demonstrated by dipping a marshmallow, mentioning someone from her old team, and waiting until she had finished chewing before continuing the presentation.

By the end of the day, the fountain had received overwhelmingly positive informal feedback from people who had been directly asked about it while holding chocolate. Facilities said it would need to be switched off overnight and cleaned by someone who understood the mechanism.

That person was identified shortly afterward. Their last day was Friday.