Prospect urges targeted furlough extension to avert job losses

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak urging him to reconsider his stance on extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on a sectoral basis.

In the letter, Clancy highlights mounting redundancies in areas such as theatre, events, heritage and aviation to argue that the government should extend the CJRS for those industries least able to resume normal activities after the pandemic.

The current situation, he warns is a ‘charter for mass redundancies’ and the Sunak’s Job Retention Bonus of £1000 is proving ineffective at saving jobs.

Instead, resources should be spent on extending the furlough scheme for these sectors and saving jobs that will be economically viable in normal times, Clancy argues:

“The imminent wave of unemployment facing some of the most productive sectors of our economy is entirely avoidable, and action to avert it is eminently affordable, and makes undeniable economic sense in the medium and long term.

I am urging again to reconsider the end of the furlough and commit the resources needed now to safeguard jobs, skills, livelihoods for an additional few months until more of the economy can reopen safely.”

The full letter can be read here.