Construction still claims for 230,000 staff on furlough

Aaron Morby 4 years ago
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Despite a strong work rebound, the number of construction staff on furlough remains around 230,000.

Number of construction staff on furlough since March 2020
Number of construction staff on furlough since March 2020

Number are well down from a peak of 723,000 staff furloughed during the industry site lockdown last April but up from the low of 170,000 recorded at the end of November.

HMRC figures show that 91,100 firms continued to use the Government Covid Job Retention scheme from November to the end of February claiming a total of £824m.

Breakdowns suggest the firms still using furlough to support office workers tend to be at the smaller employer end with an industry average of 15% of staff receiving some kind of wage support.

Construction employment type No firms No staff Staff take-up Claims
Development of building projects 6,600 14,200 23% £53m
Building projects 18,000 43,400 14% £160m
Roads and railways projects 1,600 5,300 11% £19m
Utility projects 300 900 3% £4m
Other civils projects 3,700 11,300 9% £43m
Demolition 1,000 3,100 16% £13m
Electrical; plumbing and other installation 27,400 69,900 20% £252m
Building completion and finishing 23,200 55,500 27% £189m
Other specialised construction activities 9,200 25,600 19% £92m
Total 91,000 229,200 £824m

Staff categorised and electrical, plumbing or installation received around 30% (£252m) of the total sum paid out.

Building completion and finishing staff ranked second highest receiving £189m of support for staff.

 

 

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