With news that four out of five furloughed workers have now returned to work and the fact that the CJRS scheme is supporting the least amount of workers since it began, I wanted to pose the question to you about what happens after furlough. If everyone’s now back at work and things are looking rosy then that’s brilliant. Changes on August 1^st mean employers are now contributing 20% of the salary and will continue to do so until September 30^th when the scheme ends.

But what about the not so good stuff?

Maybe you have people either fully furloughed on flexi furlough. Have you given thought to what’s going to happen with them at the end of September? If the answer is that you’re not going to have roles for them on the same working hours/days as before the pandemic, now is definitely the time to be deciding on the way forward. 

Options might include re-negotiating their days and hours on a permanent basis, offering different roles that are still within their skill sets, re-training people to be able to take on different responsibilities or of course, possible redundancies. 

It’s time to plan 

Although no one knows what lies ahead, we do know that the assistance afforded to so many of us through the furlough scheme is coming to an end. At least, at time of writing, that is! There are certainly no plans for the scheme to be extended as far as I’m aware. So, we need to start planning for a post-furlough world from 1st October when there simply isn’t the same level of support available to retain jobs and people.

My best advice at this point is to sit down and look at your business and your workforce. What’s coming down the line? What else needs to change or adapt? Where do you need people? Are you outsourcing areas of your business that you used to do inhouse? Have you found different processes, different methods of doing things? If ever there was a good time to plan ahead, it’s right now!

For help, advice or even just a metaphorical shoulder to cry on, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! One of the best things about working with me (apart from my sense of humour and wonderful taste in music.. ahem!) is that fact that I can get to know and understand your business but not be a part of it on a day to day basis. That gives me both insight and distance when most people, including you, will have one of those but not both.