WREXHAM'S MP 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 flexible furlough was introduced – including 42,300 in Wales.

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

Ms Atherton said the furlough scheme has protected more than 9.6 million jobs across the UK, including 400,800 in Wales.

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 schemes peak in May, 30 per cent of the workforce across the UK was furloughed. The share of the workforce furloughed fell by more than half to 11 per cent by mid-August.

Sarah Atherton said: “It’s fantastic to see so many businesses opening their doors again and returning their furloughed staff back on either a full-time or part-time basis.

“The furlough scheme has been hugely successful in Wrexham – protecting jobs which may otherwise have been at risk. Now, as we move into the next phase of our response to coronavirus, we want to help employers keep people on. Our Job Retention Bonus will do exactly that, supporting businesses to do the right thing.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “These figures show the success of our furlough scheme in doing what we set it up to do – to make sure people’s jobs were there for them to return to.

“That so many businesses have been able to get back to trading, and bring their staff back to the workplace is a testament to the impact the scheme has had.”

But it is far from all good news on the jobs front.

Many major British employers - including Airbus, JCB, Costa, and NatWest and Lloyds banks - have announced job cuts since the start of the lockdown, putting a calculated 180,000 positions at risk since March.