Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: secondary analysis of ended furloughs
Published 22 October 2020
© Crown copyright 2020
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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:
- iain.henderson@hmrc.gov.uk
- maeve.mcmahon@hmrc.gov.uk
- joseph.carr@hmrc.gov.uk
- benjamin.saxton@hmrc.gov.uk
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% |