More than half of UK businesses to cut jobs if furlough is lifted, YouGov poll reveals

Data collected by a national polling service has shown that more than half of businesses will have to implement redundancies after the furlough scheme ends.

The data, which was published by YouGov, asked more than 500 businesses if they would have to lay off staff within three months if the furlough scheme was lifted.

Only 34 per cent responded that they would retain all staff, with 51 per cent admitting that they would have to make redundancies. The remaining 15 per cent responded “don’t know”.

Of the respondents, 10 per cent - or 50 businesses - said they would have to cut their workforce by at least half, with a further 12 per cent predicting that they would have to lose 30 to 49 per cent of staff.

This comes after the Office of National Statistics revealed that more than 600,000 people had lost their jobs since the beginning of the pandemic.

As of last week, 8.9 million people, more than a quarter of UK workers, are being supported by the furlough scheme, which will end in its current form at the end of July.

However, a revised version of the scheme will be in operation until October.

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