NEWS30 July 2020

Job retention bonus unlikely to impact furlough decisions, study finds

UK – Four-fifths of businesses with furloughed staff do not expect the government’s job retention bonus to have any impact on the number of employees they bring back to the workplace, according to a study from IFF research.

Covid-19 coronavirus data graph_crop

The job retention bonus was introduced earlier this month by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and will give businesses £1,000 for every employee placed on furlough who remains at the company at the end of January 2021.

The majority of the survey of 721 UK businesses, which was carried out between 21 and 27 July, said they would likely claim less than £10,000.

But three-quarters of the businesses surveyed said they anticipated receiving the bonus, and satisfaction with the government’s support for businesses during the pandemic was at 70%, with a third of the total saying they were very satisfied.

The furlough scheme is due to end in October, having been put in place in March to pay up to 80% of employees’ wages during the Covid-19 lockdown.