[FullMtlAlcoholc]

Anecdotally, it was definitely a bad thing for me. I was laid off of a software dev job at the beginning of the summer in SoCal. I would have loved to have spent that time working as a bartender, for the local bike share program, or as a lifeguard. These were all positions I could leave after the summer (3 months), inevitably returning to a higher paying software development job without causing any harm to my employer. But by actually working, I would earn about half of what I received in UI benefits.

Since I was looking for an advancement in my career (I left the company on good terms and my former boss ended up being one of my references) and not desperately looking for anything that pays, I ended up doing a lot of volunteer work while focused on increasing my skill set a bit and looking for the right opportunity. But I could have just as easily spent that time sitting on my ass.