The prime minister has warned there will be 'many, many job losses' in the coming months due to the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.
He said the job losses will be 'inevitable' in the coming months as the 'recession starts to bite'.
Ministers will be as interventionist in the aftermath of the pandemic as they have been previously in protecting jobs, he said.
“We will be just as interventionist in the next phase, investing in the UK economy, investing in infrastructure, taking our country forward so that we bounce back as sharply and decisively as we can,” Mr Johnson added.
He said he believed it was “vital” to ensure young people who were likely to be the hardest hit were guaranteed apprenticeships.
“Young people in particular I believe should be guaranteed an apprenticeship,” he said.
"There is no other country in the world that has done as much, or few others that have done as much as the UK in terms of putting our arms around workers with the furlough scheme, looking after companies that have come into difficulties, helping in any way that we can", he said.
At the start of the lockdown, Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced a job retention scheme, in which the government has covered 80pc of furloughed employers' wages.
The furlough scheme will continue as it is until the start of August, when employers will be asked to start contributing to wage payments.
From August, companies will need to pay employer national insurance and pensions contributions for those on furlough.
But the effect on the economy will mean many jobs will still be lost, the prime minister warned.
