This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Amanda Snyder Cathey, a senior product designer in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who built a free layoff support tool. Her identity and background have been verified. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
The day after finalizing my divorce in February, I got laid off from a senior product design role at a real estate tech company. A few weeks later, my landlord told me I had to quickly move out because the house I was renting had a septic issue.
I knew getting laid off was a possibility. We had several layoffs during the five years I was at my last company. But it was still a shocker.
I have three daughters. The oldest is starting college in the fall, so I had to reapply for financial aid at every school she wanted to get into since my income had changed drastically.
I was laid off once before, but I quickly found another job, so I never applied for unemployment benefits. I knew I’d need more runway this time because it’s a very different job market now.
When you lose your job, you’re in a fog. It’s just very overwhelming. I didn’t want to be a deer in the headlights, so I took some time off just to get myself together and figure out what to do next.
The perfect use case
One night, I was brainstorming with a friend about things I could build with AI, because in every job interview I’ve had, I’ve been asked about how I use it.
At the same time, I saw a problem based on my experience finding the resources I needed most. I also noticed all these people on LinkedIn talking about layoffs and how they were struggling. Building a layoff support tool seemed like the perfect use case.
So what I did was I created a one-stop shop where people can search by state for information on accessing unemployment benefits, health insurance, health coverage, food assistance, and other essential resources. I made sure to include mental health resources because getting laid off is a real blow to your self-confidence.
The tool, called RIF Surfer, lives on a website that also has a checklist of steps to follow after a layoff, plus information I found surprising and helpful after mine. For example, I didn’t know that you could still qualify for unemployment benefits even after receiving a severance package, or that I could qualify for Medicaid. So, it’s a lot of me trying to demystify some of these things.
Vibe-coding for the first time
I’m a designer, not an engineer, but I built RIF Surfer in one week by vibe coding with Claude. I was inspired by the gov.uk website, which has a benefits finder. It’s very utilitarian. I wanted to keep my site very basic and straightforward.
I found it fairly easy, like being an art director, which I’m familiar with, because as a designer, it comes with the territory. I just thought of Claude as a cognitive partner. It felt natural.
The tool and website it’s on didn’t cost anything to make beyond my Claude subscription and some additional usage fees. One night, I hit my usage limit and paid around $50 so I could keep working because I was really into it.
My plan is to keep RIF Surfer free for users. I think where it could be monetized would be outplacement firms or enterprise. Companies could white-label it and tailor the information for the folks they lay off.
For now, though, I just want it to be a free community resource — a soft landing and a way for folks to bounce back. We’ve all got to learn how to surf this wave.
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