The UK Government is picking up the wage bills of 8.7 million furloughed workers, who are unable to do their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Around £17.5 billion has been claimed by more than one million firms who have sent their staff home as the country went into lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Thousands of furloughed workers face uncertainty after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that UK Government support will end on October 31.
The Chancellor said companies would have to begin to take some of the burden of paying 80 per cent of the wages of 8.4 million workers currently at home because of economic lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.