Given that labour costs account for the biggest financial expense for businesses, news of the government’s Job Retention Scheme was greeted with open arms and an overall sense of relief. Employers are now able to relax slightly with the knowledge that making redundancies is now much easier to avoid as 80% of their employees’ gross wages will be covered for a period of 12 weeks (and will be extended if needed).

Giving businesses the help they need to address any cash flow problems to stay afloat has soften views of employers who were initially more critical of the government’s response time in providing this aid, as they could have been better prepared after seeing how Covid-19 was crippling the economies of countries like China, Italy and Spain.