One in eight furloughed

Around 13% of UK workers – 3.85 million – were furloughed at the end of December, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced.

More jobs were supported by the CJRS job retention scheme in November and December than October. Furloughing of staff in the wholesale and retail sector peaked on 24 April at 1.9 million. This dropped to 356,400 at the end of October, increased in November, then fell in December to 689,500 employments.

Across the UK, 1.92 million women were furloughed at 30 November, compared with 1.79 million men. Provisional estimates show these figures decreased to, 1.88 million and 1.85 million respectively at 31 December.

Provisional estimates show that 36% of employers had staff furloughed at 31 December and 13% of employments were furloughed.

There is a rising volume of calls from unions, business groups and NGOs for the CJRS to be extended beyond its planned April closure date.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-january-2021/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-january-2021