To think there is a divide forming between furloughed and non furloughed workers

[FuckingFu]

I've heard so many people talking about how they are jealous of their furloughed colleagues. I've a friend who is furious because her company is making up the 20% and so her colleagues are 'sat at home doing nothing' and getting full pay whilst she's still working.

Whilst I do understand the jealousy and even frustration, I really am starting to hate the way it's being spoken about.

There seems to be a lot of talk about 'they'. They are sitting at home doing nothing, we'll be paying higher tax to cover their wages as if furloughed employees are some form sort of seperate, less superior group and a burden on the rest of us.

Personally, whilst I understand those feelings, I have had to say to myself well what would I prefer? I don't want my colleagues, friends and family being made redundant if that can be avoided. And if my company can afford to top up wages to 100% then good, I don't want people suffering financial hardship when it's unnecessary just so I don't have to feel jealous about it.

I want to say to my friend does she not realise that it could have been (and still could be) her being furloughed and not the person at the next desk over. This is something completely out of people's control, no one wants this (perhaps a minority are okay with being furloughed) but certainly no one chose it.

It's as if people think furloughed staff are all lazy bums who want to sit about and have everyone else fork out higher tax to cover them.

I don't want to pay higher tax either but if the alternative is thousands of unnecessary redundancies then what choice do we have.

Just seems to be a very them and us situation going on.

Not “took” TOIL

1. Personally I'd be bored out of my skull if not working.
2. If you're working and they aren't then if it came to redundancies then you may be more secure.

I’m furloughed and feel very insecure for my own and families future. I do feel for the people left at work holding the fort but I’d hope that if I were in the same position as them I’d do the best I could to keep the company afloat so that myself and my colleagues could return to a successful company without the need for redundancies and the upheaval and stress that would bring.
I think those that are still at work forget that a lot of those furloughed are worrying about whether they are needed after this and if their job is secure. Some, if not all are wondering if they’re useful at all in their companies especially where they are small number of people who are furloughed.
Myself and friends who have been furloughed still get daily questions from colleagues who are at work and we help them out as best we can. We know we need to stick together.
As with all humans we all seem to want what another has because it seems like someone else’s grass is greener.

I agree that there's a divide and as a non-furloughed person i'm finding it tough trying to juggle everything. But having read a few threads like this I'm not convinced that the ones furloughed are more likely to be made redundancies if it's needed; I think companies probably chose the ones that made the most sense at the time to stay on, but it's not necessarily a marker of their chances of being made redundant.

Am not furloughed. Things are tough.
Frankly I’m glad I’m not classed as “not required” because when the redundancies come round I’ll be the bottom of that list.

@FudgeBrownie2019 I disagree, working in HR I can see clearly those who have been furloughed have been marked as those not required because their job is not necessary right now. Whilst not all of these people will be redundant if that happens their job type will be the ones at the top of the list.

Try working for nhs. I am payed just a bit over minimum wage and am needed at work putting all my family at risk.
Whilst some people sit at home for probably twice my salary whilst on furlough
Fair?! Maybe not, but such is life

@csigeek it's interesting to hear an HR-based opinion - there are a few people at my company who've been there years and are very domineering who've been furloughed and went ballistic because others who'd not been there very long were kept on. I'd like to think the whole company will survive but I doubt it.

If redundancies are made does it matter who has been employed longest?

MrsTerryPratchett - couldn't agree with you more.

One of my favourite lines too about comparison.......

I have been furloughed and have recently been informed that I am now at risk of redundancy. My entire company is full of anxious people with jobs at risk. I would much prefer to be one of the colleagues still working, and secure in my position.

I’m in the shield group so can’t go in to work, my husband is furloughed so money is tight. Both worried about having jobs to go back to. I feel so guilty that I can’t go to work. I’d much rather be at work then stuck in my house 24/7 for the foreseeable future. But what choice do I have? No one asked for this.
But i’m Not surprised by the division, we’ve been told for decades that there is no society, we’ve been very inward looking and now we all need to pull together we’re not. It’s really sad.

@FudgeBrownie2019 not really, sometimes depends on how many redundancies are being made of the same job for example. I wouldn’t say you pick the newest first although that is always the most cost effective option. It could be dependant on performance and you can score people etc to determine who stays if you have several people in the same role and that number needs to be reduced. Otherwise the role is redundant and therefore anyone in it.
I hope too that it doesn’t end up that way but I do fear a lot of companies won’t have the choice and they’ll pick the jobs that can be done without, which furlough has pointed out to them.

I don’t feel ill will towards furloughed staff - particularly not those who are taking the opportunity to volunteer in the community. There are various services near us which have been massively boosted by an influx of furloughed volunteers (mainly in their twenties). They say they want to be doing their bit to help and it also helps them to have something to do every day.

I am worried for them though - not because of the risk of catching COVID, but because I have a nasty suspicion that for most, furlough is just delayed redundancy. Many of these jobs won’t be there any more: look at IAG today - 12,000 redundancies likely. I think there’s going to be a lot of career changing going on. Maybe some of these amazing public spirited people in their twenties currently volunteering will be inspired to switch careers into something they find more purposeful than their old jobs, maybe retraining as nurses or paramedics.

The comparison between furlough and redundancy will depend entirely on the company

Where DH works a lot of the furloughed staff will be safe because their roles cannot be made redundant

Those still in are not necessarily doing just their own job, but are the ones who can be relied on to work extra hours and work out of their job role to cover.

DH isn’t doing his job at all. His is highly likely to be made redundant and he’ll be the one that goes as they can’t make other people redundant in his place

The only thing that really annoyed me was that, as a key worker, I'm more at risk than a lot of people, yet if I do get it, I'm only entitled to SSP, whereas if someone who is at home caught it, they would still be getting 80% of their wage.

Comparison is the thief of joy. We're all better off than those in ICU.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Very, very well said.

I am on furlough leave from when I finished work today. I have been struggling with working from home because I don’t have a work station or anywhere to create one. I have ongoing issues with my lower back (3 prolapsed discs) and have various specialised equipment at work to help me. My Manager suggested last week that she speak to her line manager. We thought I would get permission to work from the office as unable to do my job effectively from home. HR got involved and said I have to be furloughed. The rest of my team were told this morning, I know they are all struggling with aches and pains since working from home and I feel awful. I really don’t know how I will fill my days.

My employer, small independant company, furloughed all staff. I'm at home living with a man I am currently divorcing, a house sale that's held up and thd likely hood that my job will not be there when lockdown ends. For those going on about how much its going to cost the taxpayer imagine paying tax for 44 years and although should have been able to claim pension two years ago now having to wait a not 4 years. Not only a waspi woman having paid in all these years but now facing possibly no income to keep me going until I do qualify.

Another....

My husband has been furloughed from his work in a supermarket and is on full pay. I am a trainee teacher working from home.
I can completely understand why people are annoyed, however I would have been happy for him be at home, on less pay, than working at normal pay. Money is temporary, but our lives matter more. I’d be happy for him to be on half pay - we’re not financially well off, but we’d be even worse off if something happened to one of us.

All the people who are unhappy about being at work - they all have the choice to be there. If you feel you’re vulnerable, or you’re not happy to be at work, then talk to your employer!

The people on furlough didn’t get a choice

My whole department is on furlough ... so we have some job security.
We have been put on furlough because there is not enough space for social distancing and half of my co workers use public transport.

I'd rather be at work looking forward to my holidays. Instead I get news from 2 of the co workers have the virus.... not funny, not a endless holiday either!

There are people out there who no longer have work, are not furloughed, have no access to any of the government's covid support schemes, and also have no access to public benefits (because they are here legally but the terms of their work visa states that they have no recourse to public funds.)

People who were in the similar financial circumstances before are now in wildly different circumstances now based on the particulars of their job. It's awful and there is plenty of injustice to go around. But the people I am most worried about are the ones I described above, who literally have no source of any income at all.

There is some underlying anxiety and resentment on both sides, I think. My workplace cut everyone's salary by 20% and then subsequently furloughed half the workforce.

Those of us still working (all from home) are likely to have to pick up extra work from those furloughed but getting the same 80% salary. A reduction in hours won't be possible for all.

Those furloughed are feeling anxious they're facing possible future redundancy although management have tried to reassure people the two are not connected (should redundancies need to happen in future).

It feels difficult either way. It's such an incredibly uncertain moment in time, in so many ways.

My husband was working his notice period at a very well known house builder and was due to start a job at another well known house builder. The new job called him the week before his start date and said they were no longer hiring. His then current job refused to furlough him even though the government allowed then to do so, he had worked hard for them and are cash rich. I’d love for them to be named and shamed but it would put my husband in an awful position in an industry he wants to stay in. He was unemployed for 2 weeks and has a sales job he hates but gets on with it because we need the money. Yes, people may feel aggrieved about working when others are not but think about those that want to work, are worried when furloughed about their job security and those key workers that have to go to work

The only people I know who have been furloughed are child-free (by choice) so myself and friends with small children who are trying to juggle childcare and working are naturally a bit resentful!

I would hate to feel insecure in my job though so in the grand scheme of things it's better, but it is hard when said friends complain about being bored!