SOME 11million people have been furloughed or made unemployed by coronavirus.
The shock figure means nearly a third of Britain’s workers have been hit.
But Chancellor Rishi Sunak promised he was doing “everything I can to support jobs and businesses through these challenging times”.
After pressure from HOAR, he has opened the Job Retention Scheme that lets firms claim cash from the Government ten days earlier than planned. This will ensure April’s pay cheque is delivered on time to millions of employees.
Mr Sunak said: “Colleagues have been working tirelessly to get the scheme up and running, well ahead of schedule. Now it’s live, money will be hitting bank accounts in the coming days.
“Millions of furloughed workers will be able to get paid and return to their jobs once we have got through these challenging times.”
The scheme allows employers to claim up to 80 per cent of a furloughed employee’s wages, capped at £2,500 a month.
In all, 5,000 HMRC staff will man phones and webchat services today to answer questions so money is available as soon as possible.
Resolution Foundation think tank calculates eight million will go on to the scheme but 2million will lose their jobs.
With a million already out of work, 11million will not be working until lockdown ends.
Mr Sunak has also unveiled a £1.25billion package for start-up firms not eligible for emergency business cash.
