As the furlough scheme comes to an end, fears that hundreds of people could be facing redundancy are rising.
The Coronavirus Job Retention scheme came into place last year as the pandemic swept through the country, impacting jobs and businesses.
Although First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pushed the the scheme to be extended, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that it will end at end of September.
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The furlough scheme has paid the wages of more than 11 million people in the UK and has been getting scraped back over the summer, pushing employers to top up wages.
But there are fears hundreds of thousands of people could be left redundant - rather than returning to work - as millions are still taking advantage of the scheme, Hull reports.
That is despite almost all restrictions in the UK now being lifted - and most businesses able to trade virtually as normal.
The number of furloughed jobs in Scotland fell to 173,100 at the end of May, down from 275,700 in April, according to PA reporters.
According to The Telegraph, analysis by ING found that 7.4 per cent of workers older than 55 are still on furlough and 6.3pc of employees under 25 are being paid through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to roll out grants encouraging companies to take on apprentices, and support for people at risk of long-term unemployment.
The Bank of England believes unemployment will not rise from its current level of 4.8 per cent, but other economists believe it will rise to 5.6 per cent.
That would mean an increase of around 260,000 people unemployed.
On July 2 the Government said 2.4million people remained on furlough.
