The furlough will end at the end of this month.
One in 16 companies now say that they are in danger of closure in the next three months.The lives of around a million people are set to be thrown into chaos when the Tories close the furlough scheme at the end of the month.6 percent of the entire workforce in Britain was still furloughed as of 22 August.More than half of staff in passenger air transport were still temporarily laid off at the end of July.
Areas close to airports are among the places with highest rates of workers still on furlough. A staggering 10 percent of all employees in the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon and the town of Slough remain on the scheme.These are areas that surround Heathrow airport. The picture in Crawley, near London Gatwick airport, is similar.Deven Ghelani, chief executive of the analysts Policy in Practice said, “By removing the pandemic’s protective measures too early, the government is introducing an autumn of income shocks to families who depend on this support.”
Peter Lambert of the London School of Economics Programme on Innovation and Diffusion said, “I think there will probably need to be some continuation of support in specific sectors.“My bet is there’ll be more targeted support because unless the economy really, really picks up, there’s going to be lots of people still left in the lurch in specific sectors.”
Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity commented: “These are uncertain times for workers. One step you can take is to join a Union that can help you if you have problems. With the end of furlough and continuing economic worries we expect the number of people in need of representation to increase.”
