End Of Furlough Support Brings Uncertainty For UK Jobs And Economy
- More than a million British workers face an uncertain future this week as the UK becomes the world's first big economy to wind up its COVID-19 jobs support scheme.
- The programme, which at its peak paid a third of employees to stay at home, cost more than 68 billion pounds ($93 billion) - the most expensive single piece of UK economic support during the pandemic.
- Other European countries with more tradition of short-time working programmes such as Germany are keeping furlough support longer, at least for harder-hit sectors.
- But with employers reporting record-high job vacancies and acute shortages of workers such as truck drivers most observers think Britain is right to end its programme on Sept. 30.
- However, these support programmes have helped to bolster consumer saving and spending in the past year and as such its end could result in a drop in consumer demand and lower than expected recovery in the near term.
(Source: Reuters & NCBCM Research)