MILLIONS of workers who are still receiving Covid emergency wage support are facing uncertainty as the government's furlough scheme ends today.
The wage support scheme has helped bosses who have struggled during the pandemic to continue paying their staff, but there are now warnings of job losses once the payments end.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled the coronavirus job retention scheme, known as furlough, at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020.
The idea was that the government would support companies hit by the pandemic and lockdowns, meaning bosses could get help paying salaries and staff could keep their jobs even if the business was unable to open.
Almost 9 million workers were furloughed in May 2020 and this has now dropped to 1.6 million.
The idea was that employers would apply for help from HMRC to pay 80% of staff wages, up to £2,500 a month.
This was initially fully covered by the Government, but companies had to start contributing 10% in July and 20% in August.
Mr Sunak has rejected calls to extend the furlough end date.
That is despite official government figures showing that 25% of employers still had staff on furlough at the end of July.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has forecast that the end of the furlough scheme could push the UK unemployment rate up from 4.8% to 5.4% by the end of this year.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke also acknowledged this morning that there "will be some job losses" once the scheme ends.
He told Sky News: “We never said we could protect every job
"I think we need to be totally honest about this, the Covid pandemic has taken a toll on our economy, it's changed some things."
He said there are still 1 million vacancies that people losing their jobs can take up, adding: "There's never an easy moment to end these measures.
"They've been hugely important but it is also time to recognise that we are now, thankfully, out of the teeth of this pandemic and we're in a situation where normal opportunity is back out there for people to embrace."
However, there are fears of a "jobs mismatch" due to a lack of vacancies in sector's with the highest number of furloughed staff.
Analysis of the Government furlough data by The Sun shows some of the sectors with the largest number of staff on furlough don't have enough vacancies if all these jobs are lost.
For example, there were 259,100 furloughed staff in the accommodation and food services sector as of the end of July.
But Office for National Statistics (ONS) vacancy figures show there were just 117,000 jobs advertised in this sector between May and July 2021.
Similarly, the car repairs sector has 224,500 staff on furlough but just 124,000 vacancies if none of these people get their current jobs back.
There are 161,500 furloughed staff in administration and support services and 155,900 in manufacturing but just 67,000 and 68,000 jobs advertised respectively.
The government data also shows that 9.9 million claims have been made for self-employed grants and more than £27 billion has been paid out.
What is furlough?
The furlough scheme was open to any UK organisation with employees, including businesses, charities, recruitment agencies and public authorities, providing they have a UK bank accounts and UK PAYE schemes.
Workers could be on any type of contract, meaning you could still be furloughed if you are part-time or a contract worker.
It was down to the organisation to arrange the help through HMRC, rather than the employees.
Millions of employees have benefited from the support scheme and have avoided losing their jobs.
Who is still on furlough?
The number of workers on furlough has been falling and 1.6 million are still getting support.
A quarter of employers had staff on furlough, according to the latest government data.
Air transport had the highest rates of jobs on furlough at 51%, followed by 46% in travel agency and tour operatorsand 35% in photographic activities.
When does furlough end?
Furlough ends on October 1.
That means the final day of wage support is today, September 30.
Furlough was initially due to end on October 31 2020 but the Chancellor extended it until December 2 after England was placed in a four-week national lockdown.
Later, on November 5, he then changed his mind again and said it would run until the end of March 2021.
It was then extended again in mid-December by a month to the end of April 2021, before an extension to September was announced in the March 2021 Budget.
There is no sign of a last minute extension.
We have rounded up your rights if you are made redundant once furlough ends.
Your household costs could also increase due to a £20 a week cut to Universal Credit this month and a rise in energy bills going this winter.
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