Furlough is just a temporary solution, according to Aude Barral, co-founder of developer recruitment platform, CodinGame.
Barral said: “While extending furlough until March will be welcomed by millions of people who will have been panicking about having no income just before Christmas, it is just a temporary solution.”
She believes that many of those in receipt of the furlough scheme will continue to be worried that they will not have a job to come back to once the financial support ends.
Furlough scheme extended until March
Barral continued: “We are teetering on the brink of the worst unemployment crisis in a generation, and throwing money at the problem will only go so far.”
Barral believes that the government must recognise that some industries, which have been affected by the pandemic, may never fully recover, even once a conclusion to coronavirus has been reached.
She added: “There will be thousands of people with transferrable skills and experience who could become the forgotten workforce if something is not done now.”
Barral outlined that the government should be investing into retraining workers affected by the pandemic.
She said: “More investment needs to be pumped into retraining programmes to help furloughed workers who are still at risk of losing their jobs, to retrain and find new opportunities in emerging sectors such as technology.”