Rishi Sunak unveils new wage top-up scheme to save Covid-hit jobs in UK

London: UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Thursday unveiled a new COVID-19 emergency Jobs Support Scheme, which will see the government top-up wages of workers covering up to two-thirds of their hours for the next six months.

In a statement to the House of Commons on his Winter Economy Plan , the Indian-origin finance minister reiterated his past message that he may not be able to protect every job and business suffering through the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown, but his new set of measures are intended to provide absolutely maximum support possible . "Our approach to the next phase of support must be different from that which came before. The primary goal of our economic policy remains unchanged to support people's jobs but the way we achieve that must evolve," said Sunak.

Nearly three million workers - or 12 per cent of the UK's workforce - are currently on partial or full furlough leave, the BBC reported.

The new Jobs Support Scheme will replace the existing furlough or Jobs Retention Scheme, which saw the government bear the burden of wages for workers sent on furlough, or forced leave, during the peak phases of the lockdown to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. That scheme is set to end on October 31 and therefore Sunak's new economic plan is intended to cover a six-month period from November, during which time wider restrictions on businesses are likely to remain in place in an effort to control a second wave of the pandemic.

"There has been no harder decision than to end the furlough scheme," said Sunak.

The minister stressed that the scheme provided short term protection during the "acute" phase of the crisis, but it is "wrong" to keep jobs going that can only survive in furlough.