‘Do I still have a job?’ Webflow techie discovers possible layoff via locked laptop: No email, no warning, nothing

Mark Willis, who had been working at Webflow for nearly 8 years, learned he could be laid off. But, he didn’t receive any email or message. The software engineer was simply logged out of his laptop.

The Webflow employee has gone viral after a deeply uncomfortable LinkedIn post. Mark discovered that he could not access his company laptop. This happened at 7 am on a regular working morning.

He received no email. He received no message of any kind. Nor did he receive any official communication whatsoever from the company.

So, he did what many people would consider unthinkable. He posted about it directly on LinkedIn. He tagged the Webflow CEO, Linda Tong, publicly in the post. He also tagged his own manager, Christopher Harrop.

“Hey, Linda Tong, I'm locked out of my Webflow laptop since 7 AM this morning. Rumor has it we've been laid off, but I don't have an email or any message to confirm anything, and I actually said ‘I don't think Linda would lay people off again without letting them know first, especially if they're on a closed work permit in a foreign country and it would mean relocating their whole family, I'm certain she would have the dignity to let folks know in a better way, given the debacle last time.’ Tell me it's not true,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

“My manager, Christopher Harrop, do you have any news? Do I have a job?” he added.

Later, in the comments section, he claimed that he had been laid off. One user wondered, “Is this for real?” Mark replied, “I wish it wasn't, but yep. For realsies.”

Many other LinkedIn users, apparently Webflow employees, also claimed that they had been terminated in a similar fashion.

“Same here, Mark. Devastated,” wrote one of them.

“Same. Let’s connect everyone,” commented another.

The post quickly gathered nearly 2,000 reactions and over 230 comments. The internet responded with a mixture of outrage, sympathy and dark humour.

He described the platform's recent decline as reaching “abysmal levels”. He cited client sites going down for hours and days without warning. He also criticised the company's focus on AI features that nobody had asked for.

Rachel Nelson, who manages multiple client accounts through Webflow, cancelled all her renewals immediately. She announced she would spend the weekend migrating everything away from the platform. Her comment received 158 likes.

Daniel Abrahams captured the mood sharply. He wrote that email layoffs were already the lowest acceptable standard. A locked-laptop layoff, he said, was a “new basement” entirely.

Rachel Murray observed that a company where employees must use LinkedIn to confirm their employment status did not demonstrate wise leadership.

“This is bizarre and I’m sorry to all the people who were affected,” she wrote.

“I'm considering a LinkedIn post if I get fired/laid off, too. Which, unfortunately, seems increasingly likely,” the user wrote.

Another pointed out that some employment contracts would prohibit public statements about a company for two years after separation. Several users noted that American employment laws would baffle workers from other countries entirely.

“In developed countries, you're employed until you receive a formal termination letter,” wrote one user.

One commenter simply said: "These companies get more and more unhinged and unprofessional."