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As countries around the world scramble to stem the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis, the United Kingdom appears to be setting the pace with one of the most impressive relief packages yet, with the government, in a quest to limit layoffs and firings, pledging on Friday to cover 80 percent of employers’ wage bills up for up to £2,500 for each worker monthly.
All employers can apply to the scheme. From the Guardian:
Coming just days after announcing a £350bn bailout package of loans and government grants to help businesses cope with the lockdown of large parts of the economy, the chancellor said his plan was one of the most comprehensive in the world and “unprecedented in British history”.
“We are starting a great national effort to protect jobs,” he said. “It’s on all of us.”
Sunak said there would be no limit on the funding available to pay people’s wages.
It’s a colossal, unprecedented plan of government intervention—and it’s no small thing that this is coming from Boris Johnson, the leader of Britain’s Conservative party. Meanwhile, in the United States, Democrats are slamming Republicans’ $1 trillion stimulus bill for prioritizing corporations over American workers. That plan includes just a one-time $1,200 payment to workers earning less than $99,000 annually.
