6% of workers on furlough as scheme ends

The latest official statistics on furlough show that the proportion of businesses’ workforces reported to be on full or partial furlough remains broadly unchanged from late July to mid-August 2021, at 6%. This rises to approximately one in six (16%) of the workforce in some parts of the service sector. The CJRS furlough scheme is scheduled to end on 30 September.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this is the lowest proportion of businesses’ workforce reported to be on furlough leave since the scheme began.

The estimated 6% of the workforce reported to be on furlough in mid-August 2021 suggests that approximately 1.4 to 1.8 million people were furloughed, the ONS reported.

Of businesses which have not permanently stopped trading, 13% reported that vacancies were more difficult to fill in the last month compared with normal expectations for this time of year in late August 2021, up from 9% earlier in the same month; 30% of businesses in the accommodation and food service activities industry reported vacancies being more difficult to fill than normal.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/bulletins/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy/23september2021