Who are we kidding? If you are still furloughed through July, August, and September, the chances are that your job isn’t on hold as you wait for lockdown to gradually be lifted or for your company to get back to normal levels of demand. In truth, you have probably been fired. It’s just that no one got around to telling you yet.
Rishi Sunak’s coronavirus job retention scheme, to give its full title, has in many ways been one of the most successful government projects we have seen for years. More than six million workers and half a million companies have taken it up. It has been brilliantly implemented by HMRC, who built the system in only a month, with hardly a hitch in the process (Who knew giving away free money was so easy? Maybe we should try it more often). Today the Chancellor announces an extension of the scheme, keeping it in place for another four months, although with some tweaks to try and reduce the estimated £10-£15 billion monthly cost.
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