// Job cuts were at their lowest in seven years this August, according to data from the government’s Insolvency Service
// At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, firms proposed over 150,000 job cuts a month
Despite the government’s furlough scheme coming to an end, August saw the lowest number of projected job cut in seven years.
Figures published by the Insolvency Service showed that British employees planned 12,587 job cuts last month, a fall of 11 per cent compared to July.
The data suggests that the predicted surge in unemployment this autumn may be smaller than expected.
At the height of the pandemic, firms proposed over 150,000 job cuts a month.
Employers planning to make 20 or more staff redundant have to notify the Insolvency Service when they start the process.
The government’s furlough scheme ends on September 30, at which point employers will have to decide whether furloughed staff can be kept on and paid a full wage.
August was the first month employers had to pay 20 per cent of wages.
The latest available data shows that 1.9 million workers were still on furlough at the end of June, and experts predicted that many of would end up redundant.
But with just 12,687 job cuts proposed in August, the lowest number for seven years, Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies said an autumn surge seems less likely now.
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