More than half of furloughed workers are back at work

THE majority of furloughed workers have returned to work ahead of the first phase-out of the scheme this weekend, new research has shown.

Despite official figures saying that 9.5 million workers are furloughed, this is “wide of the mark” as more than half of these have returned to work, new research by the Resolution Foundation, the economic think tank, has shown.

From today, employers will have to contribute towards the cost of paying furloughed staff ’s wages by paying their employer’s National Insurance and pension contributions, at an average cost of £70 a month.

Meanwhile “over a million” workers in hospitality and leisure face a “heightened risk of unemployment in the coming months”, the Resolution Foundation warns.

The Job Retention Scheme allows the Government to pay 80 per cent of workers’ wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

The Chancellor has repeatedly ruled out extending the furlough scheme, which will run until the end of October and has cost the taxpayer £31.7billion to date. Fewer than 4.5 million workers are now furloughed, analysis of ONS data by the Resolution Foundation has shown.

Daniel Tomlinson, senior economist at the think tank, said: “While furloughing is currently far less widespread than commonly claimed, there are still millions of employees without work, particularly in the hospitality and leisure sectors.

“These workers face a heightened risk of unemployment as the [scheme] starts to be phased out from today. The Chancellor should reduce this risk by phasing out support for these hardesthit sectors more slowly.”

It comes amid warnings this week that ending the furlough scheme in October could see unemployment soaring to nearly 10 per cent, and Sir Keir Starmer urging Rishi Sunak to reverse the tapering of the scheme.