Anyone surprised/disappointed at employers using furlough?

[victorioussponges]

When the government first announced the furlough scheme I (perhaps naively) anticipated it being used primarily for people who were prevented from doing their jobs because of the outbreak - e.g. hospitality, leisure etc. From what the government said I thought that was what they had in mind, too.

Fast forward a few weeks and all manner of companies seem to be using it to reduce their overheads at this point. My employer (medium sized professional services company - fully equipped to work from home) announced on Friday that they're currently identifying roles for furlough because of anticipated reduced client income in a particular area of the business.

Is that really what it is for? In the case of my company it's brought home that either we're taking advantage of the scheme to take some of the sting of our clients not sending so much work (which seems a bit wrong - if all companies do that we're going to pay for this for who knows how long), or the company is much less robust than I thought we actually need the scheme to prevent job losses - which is crazy given that some parts of our business are really not so affected?

After deductions it looks like furlough would come out at 1k something per month which will make finances quite tight. Lovely food for thought over a weekend. Anyone else feeling similar?

It’s hypocritical for you to expect full pay in this period yet not for your employer to have some help so their business isn’t long term effected. There is a threat to everyone’s future. We’re going to go straight in to a recession after this. You should be really worried what’s going to happen to your job in six months time when there are record amounts of people unemployed and businesses have had to close because they just couldn’t catch up. Lots of employers will be doing six month and year financial projections right now and doing all they can to cover their arses and keep their employers - in employment. You might think your company is financially sound but it might not be

Maybe you should look for another job? No?

The company I work for has furloughed employees and is likely to furlough more as work drops away. Those people will be needed when our offices reopen and work picks back up, but the company can't continue to pay them full pay with no work/fees coming in. They are actually paying those who earn under 30k the additional 20% of their salary on top of the government 80%, so most of those furloughed are still on full salary. When higher earners are furloughed, they will get the 80% but no more. So far, I have been very impressed with how my company has behaved - they certainly seem to be doing what they can to avoid redundancies and to ensure there is still a business left when all this is over.

Furlough only helps with staff costs. Loans hard to get. Other overheads still need to be paid. Most businesses use tomorrow's sales to pay last months bills, hence rapid downward travel.

My company made the mistake of sharing how much cash they have in the bank in an email at the start of this to reassure people. I’m not sure they can now use this scheme or else they are going to look like they are abusing the system. Shot themselves in the foot a bit as there really isn’t enough work for all for 5 days a week currently. I would say 30% of staff could be laid off or perhaps all staff go 3/4 days a week but assume they have to agree that.

What a silly thread. Believe me OP, it looks very different when you are the employer trying to keep some semblance of business going so that there are jobs for your workers to return to.

If you have been furloughed, just be grateful you've got 80% of your income. In the US 6 million people signed up for food vouchers last week because they've been fired. That's what would have happened here if it were not for the JRS.

If it’s that or redundancy then why not use it?
See the bigger picture

I see mass redundancies at the end of this anyway

Has Easyjet furloughed its staff?

I ask because it paid out £170 million in dividends to its shareholders about two weeks ago. If it has furloughed it would be a classic example of privatising profit and expecting the taxpayer to pick up the losses.

Worst I've heard is the Abu Dhabi company that owns the Exxcel Centre. They're expecting millions off the government in rent AND furloughing their regular Exxcel staff. (Andrew Marr show).

I’m pretty certain it wasn’t intended for the likes of Liverpool football club and Spurs

Yes, I was going to make the same point. It doesn't make them look great, does it?

It would be against Directors Duties if they don’t act in the best interests of the company - which for many companies will be furloughing under-utilised staff.

I am worrying about how many people don’t realise that the scheme is only wages to 31 May. That is really soon. Many Furloughed people seem to imagine they will be on 80% til the schools go back in September...

Many in the corporate world are coming out of this looking very bad (and some looking very good). I heard that Jacob Rees-Mogg's company is rubbing its hands in glee about the money it stands to make.

I really, really hope this crisis changes how people shop and vote. I don't hold out much hope that it will though. The banking crisis didn't, the Panama papers didn't, I doubt CV will.

I know of a civil servant who claimed she couldn't care for her 14 year old and 10 year old and wfh so she got furloughed 😔 meanwhile I'm juggling a toddler and wfh

I work for a well-known department store (that wasn't failing before coronavirus). 80% of head office staff have been furloughed. No pay top-up.

My company will likely furlough a couple of people soon, because in the long term we are struggling for some supplies so we anticipate there will be less to do.
We anticipate once we can get more supplies things will go back to normal - so we don't want to do redundancies (as everyone's been there more than 4 years = bigger payout than we could afford, plus if we made them redundant we'd then have to do the recruitment process as likely the redundant people would go work at Tescos or find another job. As soon as lockdown is cancelled and we get our usual stocks in I can't see we won't be back to really busy - so to have those couple of people able to 'come back in on Monday' would be great. they know their job, we know them and they'd step start right back where we left off. Boss says if we can top furlough money up we will, need to take a view on that in a week or two's time.

It’s being massively abused
Massively

People still working and firms that can survive also using it

I really hope HMRC introduce stricter rules and policies but maybe too late

Shameful

And we will all pay

Maybe they increase tax for companies that did major furlough and then made profit

Fucking hope so

In our essential service industry, workload has more than halved (income I presume also) so a lot of staff furloughed - no guarantee of any wages until government grant comes in.

The problem is, those left behind are certainly noticing the difference - the business might be making less money but the phone is ringing all the time (a lot of covid related queries) and the remaining staff are feeling aggrieved that they are having such a stressful time, at greater risk of disease, for 20% more than those sitting at home.

In terms of furloughed staff being first in line for redundancy compared to those who remain doesn’t fully add up, it is more skilled staff who are furloughed and more admin staff who are at work, the skilled staff would be in a stronger position when/if business recovers.

It is a specific (small business) example, but another thing that causes a massive headache for managers. There are some people who think furlough is too generous and others wondering how it can ever be enough to cover the bills