Official Statistics

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: secondary analysis of ended furloughs

Published 22 October 2020

1. Main findings

90% of employees who left the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) furlough scheme between April and July were still on their original payroll in August, suggesting they remained working for their original employer. This analysis is based on HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data for CJRS and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) up to 31 August 2020.

According to HMRC’s analysis, this headline has the following variations across:

  • sectors, ranging from 84% in ‘Other service activities’ to 97% in ‘Public administration and defence’
  • regions, ranging from 87% in London to 90%-91% widely across the UK
  • gender, with 89% female and 91% male

This analysis does not distinguish between employees who have chosen to leave their jobs and those who have been made redundant.

2. Contact information

For queries or feedback on this publication, please contact:

For press queries, please contact:

  • Dan Allen, tel: 03000 585 024
  • Lisa Billard, tel: 07773 091 264

3. Details

3.1 Background

This standalone, secondary analysis uses CJRS and PAYE RTI data up to 31 August 2020 (first published on 18 September 2020 for CJRS and on 15 September 2020 for PAYE RTI). This release is classified as Experimental Statistics as the methodologies used to produce the statistics are still in their development phase. As a result, the data are subject to revision.

Of 4.3 million employments that were previously furloughed through CJRS and were no longer reported to be furloughed in the statistics published in September, 3.9 million were still on the same payroll in August, suggesting that for these 3.9 million employments, the individuals had returned to work with their original employer. This means that 90% of furloughs that are no longer claimed under CJRS were still on their employer’s payroll in August.

We only capture employments that remain on the same payroll from which the employee was furloughed and do not account for natural labour market churn, including where an employee has chosen to leave their job. Therefore, if an employee was furloughed and left payroll for any reason, and is now employed on a different PAYE scheme, that re-employment is not captured here.

For all tables, numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000; figures and percentages may not sum to totals.

3.2 Previously furloughed employments remaining on payroll

Table 1. Number of furloughs ending by month

Last furloughed Employments
March 14,000
April 403,000
May 1,393,000
June 2,500,000
Total 4,311,000

Table 1 shows the number of employments that were furloughed and then no longer reported as furloughed in subsequent months. For example, in May there were 1.4 million employments furloughed that were not furloughed in subsequent months, according to HMRC data on CJRS.

Table 2. Number of furloughs ending and then reported in the employer’s PAYE return in subsequent months

Last furloughed March
payroll
April
payroll
May
payroll
June
payroll
July
payroll
August
payroll
March 14,000 12,000 11,000 10,000 10,000 10,000
April   403,000 375,000 356,000 349,000 340,000
May     1,393,000 1,336,000 1,294,000 1,259,000
June       2,500,000 2,386,000 2,262,000
Total 14,000 415,000 1,779,000 4,202,000 4,039,000 3,872,000

Table 2 shows what happened to people when their furloughs ended. For employments where the furlough ended in a particular month, the table shows the number of those furloughs on their original employer’s PAYE scheme, suggesting that they had returned to work with their employer. For example, of the 1.4 million employments where the furlough was last claimed in May, 1.3 million were still on their employer’s PAYE submission in June.

Table 3. Percentage of furloughs ending and then reported in the employer’s PAYE returns in subsequent months

Last furloughed March
payroll
April
payroll
May
payroll
June
payroll
July
payroll
August
payroll
March 100% 86% 75% 73% 72% 70%
April   100% 93% 88% 87% 84%
May     100% 96% 93% 90%
June       100% 95% 90%

3.3 Previously furloughed employments remaining on payroll by sector, region and gender

Table 4. Previously furloughed employments on payroll in August by sector

Sector Furloughs ended Of which on
payroll
Percentage
A. Agriculture, forestry and fishing 18,000 16,000 90%
B. Mining and quarrying 12,000 10,000 90%
C. Manufacturing 572,000 530,000 93%
D. Energy production and supply 16,000 14,000 93%
E. Water supply, sewerage and waste 25,000 23,000 91%
F. Construction 452,000 421,000 93%
G. Wholesale and retail;
repair of motor vehicles
1,084,000 992,000 92%
H. Transportation and storage 207,000 191,000 92%
I. Accommodation and food services 576,000 491,000 85%
J. Information and communication 76,000 66,000 87%
K. Finance and insurance 30,000 26,000 88%
L. Real estate 78,000 72,000 92%
M. Professional, scientific and technical 238,000 211,000 89%
N. Administrative and support services 338,000 287,000 85%
O. Public administration and defence;
social security
14,000 14,000 97%
P. Education 128,000 115,000 90%
Q. Health and social work 163,000 147,000 90%
R. Arts, entertainment and recreation 166,000 146,000 88%
S. Other service activities 94,000 79,000 84%
T. Households 5,000 4,000 85%
U. Unknown 21,000 17,000 80%

Table 5. Previously furloughed employments on payroll in August by region

Region Furloughs ended Of which on
payroll
Percentage
South East 582,000 521,000 89%
London 541,000 471,000 87%
North West 484,000 437,000 90%
East of England 415,000 374,000 90%
West Midlands 410,000 371,000 91%
South West 379,000 340,000 90%
Yorkshire and The Humber 366,000 330,000 90%
East Midlands 348,000 314,000 90%
North East 174,000 158,000 91%
Scotland 322,000 293,000 91%
Wales 168,000 152,000 90%
Northern Ireland 122,000 111,000 91%

Table 6. Previously furloughed employments on payroll in August by gender

Gender Furloughs ended Of which on
payroll
Percentage
Male 2,552,000 2,310,000 91%
Female 1,759,000 1,562,000 89%