There’s no more honey.
Business owners in the United Kingdom warn that once they have to start paying workers, some jobs will disappear.
Because no one will have any money.
Bosses have warned there will inevitably be mass job losses when employers are asked to start sharing up to 50 per cent of the cost of the government’s furlough scheme in August.
Industry experts also claim Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s extension to the Job Retention Scheme – where the Treasury bankrolls 80 per cent of wages – is merely delaying redundancies.
Mr Sunak yesterday announced the scheme would be prolonged until October but that businesses would ‘start sharing’ the financial burden with the Exchequer from August.
It set alarm bells ringing throughout UK Plc which demanded assurances for businesses in ‘dire straits’ unable to foot more of the wages of furloughed staff.
Representatives from the sectors hardest hit by the lockdown have voiced concern that even the Chancellor’s multi-billion-pound bailout will not go far enough.
The retail sector, which has seen sales nosedive after shops shuttered, will ‘inevitably’ have fewer store staff going forward, it is feared.
Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, told MailOnline: ‘There’s no two ways about this there will be fewer jobs in retail as we emerge out of this crisis.
‘There will be administrations that are yet to happen. The government’s support measures are providing a lifeline to keep businesses afloat and preserve cash and continue to operate and allow them the working capital to do that.
He added: ‘For some businesses, they will have some staff on furlough who they will realise that are unlikely to be coming back to the same roles as before, if they have those roles at all.’
Mr Lim added that retailers would likely shift more weight behind online selling and would ‘absolutely try’ to retain store staff if possible, but this could mean fewer hours or job sharing.
The picture in the travel sector looks equally as bleak, with summer holidays abroad all but cancelled for Britons.
Airlines have been forced to furlough thousands of staff as countries around the world enforce flight freezes to stem the spread of the virus.
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The immediate future of hospitality businesses also remains uncertain, with warnings that pubs and restaurants could remain closed for many months.
It is feared bosses with no revenue stream and lofty overheads will not be able to pay half their furloughed employees’ wages.
All of the unemployment numbers so far are going to look pale in comparison to what’s coming.
People will realize that they don’t have any money to spend, businesses will realize that they don’t have any customers any more, and there’ll be a chain reaction of people getting fired left and right, resulting in even more businesses collapsing and firing people.
There’ll be chaos.
There’ll be anger.
And there’ll be one big question to ask.
Who is responsible for this?
And why did they do it?