More than half of all furloughed employees placed on furlough leave through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) have now been brought back to the workplace, according to the latest figures.
The report comes ahead of the end of the CJRS, with Government contributions being reduced over the next two months before finally closing on 31 October 2020.
The latest statistics, published by HM Treasury, show that at the scheme’s peak in May 2020, almost a third (30 per cent) of the UK workforce was furloughed.
However, those figures had fallen to just over one in 10 (11 per cent) as of mid-August – the latest data available.
As of September, employers are now required to contribute at least 10 per cent of workers’ wages, as well as employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), while the Government will contribute no more than 70 per cent.
This will increase to 20 per cent in October, with the Government reducing its level of contributions to 60 per cent, ahead of the CJRS closing completely on 31 October.
To encourage employers to bring back workers from furlough, a new £1,000 Job Retention Bonus will be offered for every employee who previously claimed under the scheme, and who remains continuously employed through to 31 January 2021.
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “As official employment figures 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.”
Despite millions of workers returning to the workplace, hundreds of thousands more have lost their job throughout the pandemic. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), around 695,000 workers have been wiped from UK payrolls since the beginning of March.
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