By the end of the UK's job retention scheme, which ran from April 2020, to September 2021, approximately 11.7 million jobs, from 1.3 million different employers, were furloughed in the United Kingdom. The day with the most jobs furloughed at once was May 8, 2020, when 8.86 million jobs were on the job retention scheme. The scheme, introduced in response to the economic damage caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, covered 80 percent of an employees' usual monthly wage, up to 2,500 British pounds a month. How much did the scheme cost? The UK government spent approximately 70 billion British pounds on the job retention scheme. Due to spending commitments such as this, as well as depressed revenue sources, UK government finances took a severe hit in the 2020/21 financial year. Government borrowing was approximately 333 billion pounds in 2020/21, while government debt as a share of GDP shot up from 80.3 percent in 2018/19, to 96.5 percent by 2020/21. Getting this debt down has proven difficult in subsequent financial years, with high inflation, war in Ukraine, and Cost of Living Crisis putting even more pressure on public finances. Popular scheme may not be enough to save Sunak The current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, held the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer throughout the duration of the furlough scheme. While this scheme and Sunak himself were popular for much of that time, Sunak has since seen his popularity tumble. Shortly after succeeding Liz Truss as Prime Minister in October 2021, Sunak was seen by 30 percent of people as being the best person for his job, while his net favorability rating was around -19 percent. By May 2024, just before he announced the 2024 general election, just 19 percent of people thought he made the best Prime Minister, and his net favorability rating had fallen to -51 percent.

The job retention scheme in the United Kingdom ended on September 30, 2021, with approximately 1.16 million jobs still on furlough at its conclusion. In May 2020 the number of jobs furloughed peaked at over 8.8 million. As a cumulative total there were around 11.7 million jobs furloughed in the since the introduction of the scheme in March 2020.

On September 30, 2021, at the end of the job retention scheme in the United Kingdom, there were approximately 268.6 thousand people aged between 35 and 44 still furloughed, the most of any group. Since July 2020, the age group 25 to 34 has consistently had the most people on furlough, with over 1.3 million of this age group on the job retention scheme at the start of that month.

Over 2.25 million jobs in the United Kingdom's wholesale and retail sector were furloughed on the UK's job retention scheme between April 2020 and September 2021, with a further 2.13 million thousand accommodation and food services jobs also furloughed. These two sectors were the most vulnerable to the UK's Coronavirus lockdowns, with manufacturing and administrative support work also haivng relatively high numbers furloughed.

During the United Kingdom's job retention scheme, which ran from April 2020 to September 2021, approximately 1.64 million jobs in London were furloughed, the highest of any region of the United Kingdom.

BackgroundLong-term health conditions can affect labour market outcomes. COVID-19 may have increased labour market inequalities, e.g. due to restricted opportunities for clinically vulnerable people. Evaluating COVID-19’s impact could help target support.AimTo quantify the effect of several long-term conditions on UK labour market outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare them to pre-pandemic outcomes.MethodsThe Understanding Society COVID-19 survey collected responses from around 20,000 UK residents in nine waves from April 2020-September 2021. Participants employed in January/February 2020 with a variety of long-term conditions were matched with people without the condition but with similar baseline characteristics. Models estimated probability of employment, hours worked and earnings. We compared these results with results from a two-year pre-pandemic period. We also modelled probability of furlough and home-working frequency during COVID-19.ResultsMost conditions (asthma, arthritis, emotional/nervous/psychiatric problems, vascular/pulmonary/liver conditions, epilepsy) were associated with reduced employment probability and/or hours worked during COVID-19, but not pre-pandemic. Furlough was more likely for people with pulmonary conditions. People with arthritis and cancer were slower to return to in-person working. Few effects were seen for earnings.ConclusionCOVID-19 had a disproportionate impact on people with long-term conditions’ labour market outcomes.