Around 1,000 still furloughed in August, new figures show

Businesses in Lerwick will have been affected by the latest restrictions. Photo: Dave Donaldson. 

Around 1,000 workers were still furloughed at the end of August, latest figures from HMRC show.

According to an update on the coronavirus job retention scheme from HMRC, 1,000 people in Shetland were furloughed as of Monday 31st August.

Roughly 600 women were being furloughed, compared to around 400 men.

That equates to around 8 per cent of the workforce.

The furlough scheme is due to come to an end next week, to be replaced with a job support scheme for workers at businesses forced to close by coronavirus.

Delays in reporting of furlough figures mean that the November update from HMRC will only show how many people were still furloughed at the end of September.

HMRC says around 90 per cent of UK workers who were taken off of furlough between April and July were still employed by the same company in August.