Transport for London (TfL) will place 7,000 employees on furlough with 100% pay, effective immediately.
The transport business, which has approximately 28,000 employees, is furloughing around 25% of its workforce whose jobs have been drastically reduced or paused due to the ramifications of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
The government’s job retention scheme allows furloughed employees to receive 80% of their salary, capped at £2,500, however, TfL will be topping up its employees salaries by 20% so they receive full pay.
This move will see TfL save an estimated £15.8 million every four weeks. The organisation’s finances has taken a massive hit due to the success of the government’s lockdown measures, with tube journeys decreasing by 95% and bus journeys by 85%.
The organisation will also continue to pay pension contributions for any staff that have been furloughed.
Mike Brown, transport commissioner at TfL, said: “The transport network is crucial in the fight to tackle Coronavirus and it will play a similarly vital role in supporting the country’s economy as it recovers from the pandemic.
“We have significantly cut our costs over recent years but nevertheless the success of encouraging the vast majority of people to stay at home has seen our main revenue, fares, reduce by 90%.
“We are now taking steps to use the government’s job retention scheme to further reduce our costs where work has been paused because of the virus, while at the same time supporting our staff financially.
“Our work with the government about the support that we need are ongoing and are constructive. We hope for an urgent agreement so that we can continue to provide the city with the vital transport it needs now and going forward.”