Tourism hotspot York has one of highest rates of furloughed staff

YORK HAS one of the highest rates in the country of furloughed workers, research shows.

The data, from the Centre for Cities, says 16.4 per cent of workers in the city are laid off – the sixth highest in the UK.

The Centre for Cities said that areas heavily reliant on aviation and tourism had the highest furlough rates.

The furlough scheme, designed to save jobs that would otherwise have been lost during the pandemic, was introduced almost a year ago by Chancellor Rishi

Sunak in response to the pandemic.

The Government pays up to 80 per cent of employee salaries while they cannot work.

Around 24,000 jobs in York before the pandemic were tourism related.

Crawley, home to Gatwick Airport,

has the highest rate of furloughed workers in the UK, with 18.4 per cent on the scheme.

Overall, fewer people have been furloughed over the current lockdown than the first restrictions.

At its peak in May 2020, 8.9m people across the country were furloughed. Elena Magrini, a labour-market expert at the Centre for Cities, said: “As the end of this health crisis seems now to be in sight, it is crucial for the Government to get the timing right in phasing out support for workers and businesses.”

She added: “This should mean ensuring the Universal Credit uplift, alongside the Job Retention Scheme, are both kept in place at least for as long as restrictions are in place and only withdraw support once the economy is back in full gear.”