Most workers who were still on the British government’s COVID-19 furlough programme when it closed at the end of September returned to their employers on the same hours, an official survey of businesses has revealed.
The Office for National Statistics said that 65 per cent of these employees returned to work on the same hours, while 16 per cent went back with reduced hours and 6 per cent went back with hours increased. Another 6 per cent were either laid off or left their jobs voluntarily.
The figures showed that a further 210,000 employees came off the scheme during September, and about half the 1.1 million people still being supported were on flexible furlough working for some of their hours in the workplace.
Following the end of the CJRS, those 16% of businesses were asked, approximately what proportion of those furloughed employees had:
- been made permanently redundant – 3%
- returned to work on increased hours – 6%
- returned to work on the same number of hours – 65%
- returned to work on reduced hours – 16%
- voluntarily left their role – 3%
- other – 8%
