Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk as the furlough scheme begins to be wound down today, the government has been warned.
The Resolution Foundation think tank said that as many as one million people in social sectors such as hospitality and leisure may be facing redundancy and the Federation of Small Businesses claimed the UK “cannot afford to pull up the business support drawbridge any time soon”.
From today, companies will have to contribute to the cost of furloughed workers by paying employer national insurance and pension contributions. The average cost will be £70 a month, 5 per cent of the employees’ pre-furlough pay.
Since March, the government has paid 80 per cent of any furloughed worker’s salary up to a maximum of
