Nearly a quarter of employees in Britain have been furloughed in just two weeks, officials have said.
Figures released by HMRC show that hundreds of thousands of employers are taking advantage of the Government's job retention scheme after it launched on April 20.
According to the data, a total of 6.3 million jobs have been subject to furlough, with claims amounting to £8bn by May 3.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) soon after Boris Johnson implemented the nation-wide lockdown on March 3.
Under the Government scheme, workers will be paid 80 per cent of their wages, up to £2,500 a month, and continue to pay tax on their income.
Employers can agree to pay the extra 20 per cent, but do not have to.
Latest official Government figures showed that before the pandemic, the number of employees in the UK stood at 27.9 million, of whom 23 per cent have been furloughed.
Earlier this month the Resolution Foundation think tank estimated the total cost of the scheme could rise to £40 billion.
The Government also encouraged furloughed workers to assist farmers with harvesting crops.
The news comes as pensions minister Therese Coffey revealed the Government received 1.8 million claims for Universal Credit between March 16 and the end of April.
Updating MPs on her department’s efforts, Ms Coffey said: “Since 16 March to the end of April we have received over 1.8 million claims to Universal Credit, over 250,000 claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance and over 20,000 claims for Employment Support Allowance.
“Overall, this is six times the volume that we would typically experience and in one week we had a tenfold increase.
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“The rate for UC claims appears to have stabilised at about 20-25,000 per day, which is double that of a standard week pre-Covid-19.”
