LONDON (UK) – The exhibitions industry warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday that more than 90,000 people working in the sector were likely to lose their jobs unless the government offered more support to replace a job furlough scheme.
To halt the spread of the pandemic people have been prevented from mingling in groups of more than six, making conferences, concerts and other mega events impossible to organise.
This month, the job furlough scheme of the government, which protects many jobs by paying up to 80% of staff wages, comes to an end.
The Events Industry Alliance, which represents trade organisations, said its members could not afford to use a new scheme, which offers a smaller amount of government support to businesses.
“Over 90,000 people will be made redundant in the coming weeks due to continued event closures and the inability of their employers to access the new Job Support Scheme as they are not able to trade at all,” the group said in a letter shot off to the prime minister as well as finance minister Rishi Sunak.
Last week, Sunak said the government would only extend support to viable jobs from next month onwards. It refers to jobs where employers are able to pay staff just over half their normal wages, and hinted that there would be job cuts.
The trade body asked the finance minister to provide wage support to the sector.
“We are not an unviable sector and simply require support to survive until the time is right to resume events,” it said in the letter.
