Furlough scheme has done what it was designed to do, says Sunak

Latest data shows that more than half of those furloughed since May returned to work by mid-August.

At the peak of the scheme (in May), 30% of the workforce across the UK was furloughed. The share of the workforce furloughed fell by more than half to 11% by mid-August.

The government says that the aim of the scheme was to save jobs and retain the connection between employees and their workplace – this seems to have worked with ONS figures showing that less than one per cent of the workforce was made redundant in every 2-week period.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, commented on the latest data, “As today’s official employment figures today show, the furlough scheme has done what it was designed to do – save jobs and help people back to work, where they want to be.

“We were clear at the start of the pandemic that we couldn’t save every job, but the furlough scheme has supported millions of workers and we want to help employers keep people on. Our Job Retention Bonus will do exactly that, supporting businesses to do the right thing.”

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