tl;dr version: Unemployment is not welfare and welfare is an open ended handout and is the realm of the lazy and useless.

Unemployment isn't the dole. Employers pay into a state fund for each employee; like an insurance premium and is administered by the state. In California the first $7K per year of an employees wages are subject to the premium. It can range from 1.x% to 6.x% of the first $7K depending on some indecipherable formula they have concocted. Generally if a company has laid-off/fired a bunch of employees and they have made successful unemployment claims, their rate will be higher.

So in addition to the matching FICA taxes on every employee, the employer pays the unemployment insurance. So if the company is in the highest bracket they could be paying over $400 per employee per year to fund the unemployment fund. Unlike welfare, there is a limit on benefits based on last salary and length of employment (not number of dependents) and the benefits actually terminate at a certain point in time regardless if the unemployed person ever got a job. You must actively look for work during the benefits period and must not refuse any job offers that come your way.

In some cases, the federal government will step in and provide additional benefits after the state ones are exhausted. Those were the "99 weekers" from the Great Recession of 2007. Normally the employer pays a maximum of $42 per employee per year to Uncle Sam to cover the federal program, giving them credit for the employer's state contributions. But in the last few years, half of the states haven't paid back the feds and have reduced the credit, therefore the employer has to pay more to the feds.