MP Maria Miller welcomes workers returning back to work part-time from furlough

New figures show that nearly a million workers returned to their jobs part-time in the first month that flexible furlough was introduced, which includes 130,900 jobs in the South East.

The furlough scheme has protected more than 9.6 million jobs across the UK since the its launch earlier this year, including 1,294,600 in the South East.

Commenting on the figures, Maria Miller said, ‘It’s brilliant to see so many businesses opening their doors once more, and bringing their furloughed employees back on a full- or part-time basis. The furlough scheme has been incredibly important in protecting jobs in Basingstoke which may otherwise have been at risk.

‘Now, as we move into the next phase of our response to the virus, we want to help employers retain their staff through the Job Retention Bonus, supporting businesses to do the right thing.’

Flexible furlough began on the 1st July – giving businesses the flexibility to bring back their employees on a part-time basis, with the government paying 80% of their wages for the hours not worked.

In addition to people returning part-time, figures released earlier this week show that more than half of all people furloughed in May have already returned to work full time.  At the scheme’s peak in May, 30 per cent of the workforce across the UK was furloughed. By mid-August, the share of the workforce furloughed had fallen by more than half, to 11 per cent.

In addition to the security the furlough scheme has provided over the past few months, companies can benefit from the £1000 Job Retention Bonus for returning staff- suppoerting companies returning staff to work and rewarding them for keeping them in their jobs.