Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, the State has assumed the payment of 80 percent of the salary of employees whose jobs were affected by the pandemic, but from Thursday, the so-called job retention scheme began to be reduced, and employers will have to assume 10 percent.

According to the schedule drawn up by the government, in August and September employers will have to contribute 20 percent of their workers’ salaries, and in October the State aid, which according to official sources prevented 11 million people from becoming unemployed, will come to an end.

Although with the gradual lifting of the confinement many employees returned to work, especially in the service sector, it is believed that close to two million workers still depend on State aid to survive.

If the government wants us to ‘live with Covid-19,’ then it must protect jobs, said Steve Turner, deputy secretary of Unite, a union with more than one million members.

According to Turner, if the wage support scheme is not maintained, millions will be unemployed by fall.

The director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland, urged the authorities to maintain wage support at least until all Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

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