Statistics published today show that nearly one million employees returned to work part-time during the first month the flexible furlough scheme was introduced.
The flexible furlough scheme was introduced on the 1st of July 2020. It allowed businesses the flexibility to bring back staff part-time, with the government paying 80% of their wages for the hours not worked.
This included 950,000 workers, 20% of those furloughed nationally, went back into offices, shops, restaurants and factories working part-time.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak has said:
“These figures show the success of our furlough scheme- making sure people’s jobs are there for them to return to.
“That so many businesses have been able to get back to trading, and bring their staff back to the workplace is a testament to the impact the scheme has had.”
During the pandemic around 1.85 million employees in retail and wholesale has been furloughed, by the end of July this number massively dropped to 789,000.
These statistics come as 9.6 million jobs have been supported via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the support for business and furloughed staff ill continue with the £9 billion Job Retention Bonus as well as other plans including the £2 billion Kickstart scheme.
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