Why are a lot of workplaces NOT taking furlough this time round?

[ssd]

I've seen loads of posts here saying people need key worker places as they arent being furloughed this time round.

Why are companies reluctant to use furlough?

For many now it's BAU.

It certainly is for us and all the clients we are working with. In March, a lot of them put projects on hold (for no reason as it happened), but this time round have seen there is no reason to pause projects, so for us, everyone is needed and the same for the clients.

A lot of work places just closed down during the first lockdown but since then they have set up their employees to work from home or have adjusted to safer working within the workplace so they don't need to furlough the staff.

Also places like garden centres, McDonald's etc were all.closed for months, this time they are not so no furlough for the staff.

Circumstances aren't exactly the same though. Last time it was unexpected, had never happened before and companies hadn't had time to adapt. Smart companies have spend the year adapting the this 'temporary' situation so that they can continue to be successful whilst this is all still going on. They've changed the type of work they do, ways of working in the office, sorted out IT so people can work from home, tapped into new work more compatible with lockdowns etc. There is no need to furlough lots of staff now for many companies and to do so would mean not doing the work they have.

Because many more businesses are now set up to trade and work in a pandemic than at the start. When the first lockdown started we closed down whole aspects of our work and furloughed some staff. In between, we have worked on developing online provision and this lockdiwn are carrying on without a hiccup.

Because in order to survive they have to trade / operate.

Furlough is fine but it only covers wages. Businesses have a whole load of other fixed costs that aren’t covered and that they need to bring in income to pay for. Hence the need to operate, and the need for employees to actually be working.

But circumstances aren't the same! Things have changed - as a number of posters have told you, in the first lockdown there was no/little work; now, there is work. Furlough was always meant to cover pay where there is not work available for the worker to be paid for.

If the business furloughed staff for half of 2020, i.e. no work and therefore no income - they are probably in a much worse financial situation now (as they ill have been paying other costs regardless) and so NEED to be making money in order to survive. They can't just go - oh well, we'll send everyone home and hope for the best.

The thing as well is a lot of businesses and parts of the economy shut down completely last time. It isn’t sustainable to keep doing this.
We did all of that last time, everyone sacrificed and for what? We’re back where we were. So people are thinking what’s the point?
At least that’s my two cents on it.
We have to give the current lockdown time to be effective. Numbers came down in November with the shops open I’m sure it will start to come down in a week or so hopefully! Maybe two!

The best way for a business to survive is to do business.

My husband was furloughed first time round and then made redundant in October when furlough was originally due to end. He is now working zero hours contract doing his old job. I think it is a combination of more businesses remaining open this time compared to last time, and also those businesses having already cut their staff to the minimum and needing everyone they have kept on to be working.

My employer is theirs sector (not for profit) and our workload has increased. If they furloughed all the parents with primary aged children, we wouldn't be able to function as an organisation.

My company, global prof services furloughed first time, we al took pay cuts. They did what they needed to protect the business. We made redundancies. Now we need everyone working to deliver projects and instructions.

If we furlough people the work won't be done.

It’s a combination of employers needing their staff in and the fact that the terms of the scheme have changed. This time they have to pay employer’s NI (13.8% of earnings above the threshold so not an insignificant amount) plus employer’s pension contributions. Those were covered by the government last time. So there’s less incentive to furlough staff.

Also some people will be on part time furlough which wasn’t an option in lockdown 1. For a lot of employers, part time furlough makes a lot of sense- there may be less work than usual but there is some work. So employers are using it (mine certainly is - in the Spring most people were on full- time furlough and those of us who were left had to do overtime to cope with their work. We’d have liked to keep some on part time but it wasn’t an back then. We are using it now though). If you’re on part time furlough you’d probably still want a school place.

Some companies took the piss the first time round by furloughing people they didn't need to in order to save themselves money. Also I think a lot of companies after struggling through the first lockdown have realised that not all their work can be done effectively from home so are more reluctant to allow this now.

We need all staff in to keep the business going,otherwise there will be no jobs for people to come back to
Don't think the government understand ,or care ,how it is for small businesses,
Most of them have never even had a proper job,and all of them are still geting paid during the pandemic,regardless ,unlike small business owners

We’re probably going to repay the furlough money we took in 2020 (amounts to 2.5 million pounds) so don’t want to amass any more.

My company isn't using furlough this time as they made some people redundant in the summer so need all staff in, plus we managed to get a covid contract so are busier than normal.

@ssd

I've seen loads of posts here saying people need key worker places as they arent being furloughed this time round.

Why are companies reluctant to use furlough?

I think the problem is that you do not know what furlough is or what it is used for or why companies put employees on furlough.

Google would help.

Because my company's profits have gone up and we're doing more sales than this time last year. We have adapted and we need people to service the sales. If we didn't, we'd lose business and we'd be forced to make people redundant.

Because they have to contribute more & because some places will fold without people working.

All furlough does is reduce staff costs. It doesn’t pay for ongoing costs or lost business. Many businesses essentially shut down in March (even if they didn’t have to), they can’t afford to do that again, and the market is such that (apart from hospitality etc) they don’t have to.

Agree about increased workload. I worked f/t for 3 months to catch up with the first lockdown hangover even though I wasn't furloughed. DH had xmas annual leave cancelled & did 2 x 60 hour wks & it's not slowing down.

Another one here who was furloughed last year due to dramatic downturn in workload. I'm not being furloughed this time because the workload hasn't dropped. Whether it will over the coming weeks is another matter and boss has said he will have to keep it as an option.

He reckons there's a lot of faff and paperwork involved in doing furlough so he'd like to avoid it if he can, don't know whether he's overstating that but, there you have it!

Think of the businesses that have boomed this yr, supermarkets, amazon, bike shops etc. That's all increased workload.

Because the government arent paying all of it like they did last time? and also because workplaces have more 'covid secure' stuff in place now to keep going.

Last year everyone was told if you can't work from home and you're not a key worker then you can't go to work. This lockdown is different, if you can't work from home everyone can go to work. It's very different