Business lobby groups and trade unions have called on the UK government to do more to help companies and workers recover from the coronavirus lockdown.
They warned that many otherwise viable firms still faced “maximum jeopardy right now” despite the chancellor on Wednesday announcing a string of radical measures.
Carolyn Fairbairn, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said Rushi Sunak had “many good ideas” and it was right that he was taking action to try to avoid mass youth unemployment that would “scar lives”.
“But firms facing max jeopardy right now need more immediate support. Prevention better than cure,” she said. “The job retention bonus will help firms protect jobs. But with nearly 70% of firms running low on cash, and three in four reporting lack of demand, more immediate direct support for firms, from grants to further business rates relief, is still urgently needed.”
Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of trade union body the TUC, said: “The government must do far more to stem the rising tide of redundancies. We can’t afford to lose any more good skilled jobs. Struggling businesses will need more than a one-off job retention bonus to survive and save jobs in the long term.”
Mike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect union, said Sunak had “failed to acknowledge that there are some sectors that need extra support so they can retain viable jobs until they can reopen”.
He added: “The chancellor started his statement saying that ‘nobody will be left without hope’, but there was nothing in his new package for the millions of forgotten freelancers and others who have been left with no hope and no support for months.”
Stephen Phipson, the chief executive of Make UK, the manufacturing companies’ trade body, said industry would “applaud the chancellor’s bold intent” that would “spur rebuilding business confidence and healing the economy”.
Mike Cherry, the chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, welcomed the chancellor’s interventions, but warned that the job retention bonus – where employers will receive a £1,000 bonus for every furloughed worker they bring back and employ continuously through to January – must be easy to access in order to avoid mass unemployment.
“The chancellor is absolutely right to stress that the job of getting the economy back on its feet has only just begun,” Cherry said. “Will this set of measures be enough to spur activity over the coming weeks? That’s something that will need to be kept under close review. We may need further action before the autumn.
“The key now is making sure these positive new measures work for all, especially the small firms that make up 99% of our business community and employ 17 million people. The job retention bonus must be easy to access. We can’t have paperwork holding up this vital support.”
However, he said that “once again” the government had overlooked the newly self-employed and company directors who have “now been left without help for more than 100 days during this incredibly difficult period”.
