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Six percent of the UK workforce remains on full or partial furlough according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on the cusp of its final week. The figures led one analyst to warn the government that many people would face difficulties this autumn once the scheme closed and urged it not to press ahead with the cut in Universal Credit. Although the ONS found that the proportion of businesses’ workforce on full or partial furlough was broadly unchanged from late July to mid-August 2021, at 6%; about one in six (16%) of the workforce in “other service activities” occupations, for example, hairdressing and other beauty treatment businesses, were using the CJRS. However, this had declined from a high of 79% in late January 2021. Of the workforce who are reported to be on furlough, about two-fifths (43%) are still fully furloughed, equating to about 600,000 people, the figures suggest. Responding to the ONS Business Insights and Conditions Survey, independent think-tank the Resolution Foundation has calculated that about one million employees will still be on furlough on 30 September, when the scheme closes, and will face a “testing autumn”. The Foundation predicts that although most workers still on furlough would return to their previous jobs, particularly those on partial furlough, there would still be hundreds of