A Webflow employee has called out the company’s CEO over the way in which she handled layoffs, claiming he did not receive an email or a message about his termination but was simply locked out of his laptop. The Canada-based employee took to LinkedIn to share a post tagging Webflow CEO Linda Tong after finding himself unable to access his work device early in the morning.Linda Tong is the CEO of San Francisco-based startup WebflowSan Francisco-based web development startup Webflow yesterday announced layoffs, but did not say how many employees would be impacted. CEO Linda Tong said the decision was tied to how quickly AI is changing the web-building and marketing industry.“Locked out of Webflow laptop”According to the employee’s LinkedIn post, he realised something was wrong after he was suddenly unable to access his Webflow laptop early in the morning. At the time, he said there had been rumours internally that layoffs were underway, but he had not received any formal communication from the company confirming whether his role had been impacted.“Hey Linda Tong I’m locked out of my Webflow laptop since 7am this morning,” the software developer wrote on LinkedIn.“Rumor has it we’ve been laid off, but I don’t have an email or any message to confirm anything.”Laid-off techie calls out CEOThe employee said he was stunned by the way the layoffs were carried out without notifying the affected employees personally. He said he initially believed there was no way the company would repeat mistakes from previous layoffs, especially for international employees whose immigration status may depend on their jobs.“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,’” the employee said in his LinkedIn post.He then tagged his manager and asked, “Do I have a job?”Later in the comments section, the employee confirmed that he had been laid off.Layoffs at WebflowWebflow — a company valued at $4 billion in 2022 — confirmed job cuts shortly after the LinkedIn post emerged. In a blog post, CEO Linda Tong said that it was restructuring because artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the web development industry.(Also read: ‘Business is the strongest it's ever been,’ says ClickUp CEO after laying off 22% of staff)“We’re at an inflection point, both as a company and as an industry,” Tong wrote.“The way businesses build for the web is changing fast. AI is rewriting the rules for how marketing teams create, test, and optimize digital experiences.”Tong said simpler website creation was increasingly being handled by AI tools and lightweight website builders. As a result, Webflow now wants to focus on larger businesses that use websites as “growth engines”.The CEO said affected employees would receive 16 weeks of severance pay, along with an additional week of pay for every completed year at the company. Departing US-based employees would also receive six months of COBRA coverage and be allowed to keep their company-issued laptops.