Furlough Ending Today.

[dave50]

It's about time, it went on far too long when the rest of the country is opening up. Shouldn't be a problem anyway as there are record job vacancies, so there is no excuse to stay on benefits.

[bobbinwales]

Must admit at being suprised to read the numbers still on furlough and its not clear to me why really now, but we may see another surge in UC claim's.

[Boto]

I agree with you, but I won't hold my breath that the number on benefits will go down. A lot have decided it's rather nice being paid to stay at home.

[Ken4155]

What have benefit claimants got to do with furlough? It was introduced to prevent mass redundancies at the height of the Covid epidemic.

[Peter Pedant]

that reassuringly is what the govt says

[naomi24]

Hopefully everyone will get back to work properly now, although from what I hear a lot of those working from home don't want to get back to work properly - probably because a lot of them aren't actually 'working' that much.

[dannyk13]

Maybe some prefer to work from home as my Granddaughter does.She has a 12 mile commute to work.

[Ken4155]

I would also imagine that some firms would also prefer their staff to work from home (where possible) if it means lowering overheads. A friend of my daughter now works exclusively from home and is much better off financially as she not only saves on her daily travel expenses, but also the weekly childcare costs. With a little help she is able to juggle her work with looking after her 18 month old child.

[gulliver1]

One million job vacancies in the UK, an all out record .... and no takers
.....Best let some immigrants in. lol

[bobbinwales]

furlough wasnt about working from though, it was about being paid to NOT work. Hopefully working from home at least some of the time will continue for many tho sadly not for me
ken, i only mentioned UC because some jobs that were still furloughed will not continue so some will after go on UC

[goodgoalie]

Being discussed today (Thurs) on Jeremy Vine Radio2 at 12.30pm

[Buenchico]

Having lots of job vacancies doesn't necessarily help those who're unemployed.

For example, there are around 100,000 vacancies for lorry drivers but it takes around 9 months (and quite a bit of capital) to train to be a lorry driver. Such job vacancies are also not likely to be of use to single mothers who need work that fits in with school hours.

Similarly, while there are loads of job vacancies in the hospitality sector, many of them are for skilled and qualified staff, such as chefs. Those vacancies that are for unskilled/semi-skilled staff, such as bar work and front of house restaurant staff often involve working unsocial hours. Once again, those vacancies won't help unemployed people with childcare responsibilities. Neither will they help people who'd be happy to do the work but who simply can't get to where the vacancies are because (as is the case around here) there are no bus services after 6pm.

There are plenty of jobs going in the care industry but many of them involve travelling between clients' homes (which requires a car), are in care homes in rural locations (again only accessible by car) and/or involve working evening or night shifts (which are of no use to those with childcare facilities).

Many food production factories (such as the many chicken processing plants around here in East Anglia) need staff but such factories are often in rural locations (with no public transport) and/or require staff who're able to work nightshifts. That severely limits the number of people who're able to apply for such work.

Other fields where there are lots of vacancies, such as nursing and IT, require relevant university degrees and experience. For a single mother, for example, who used to have a job (based around school hours) in the travel industry, there will be hardly any vacancies that she can apply for (and, when she does apply, she'll have lots of competition from others in similar positions).

Unemployment is bound to rise as furlough comes to an end, not because there aren't enough jobs but because there aren't enough of the right sort of jobs.

[archibaldy]

Bit of a mix up between unemployment benefit, furlough payments and working from home on here..

Furlough is decided by the company, the employee is still classed as employed, the company pay the employee and claim 80% of the employees pay back from the government. These people do not perform work.

Home workers are employed, perform work and the company does not claim anything from the government. Home just describes their location of work.

People who are unemployed claim unemployment benefit directly paid to them by the government.

It’s going to be enlightening to see how many of the million are unemployed when the furlough scheme ends, we will then see the full effect of the pandemic and other recent events on the UK jobs market.