Agents welcomed the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until December, but said it was too late for firms already making redundancies.
Furlough, which had been due to expire at the end of October, was extended for the England-wide lockdown, from November 5 until December 2, as agents again had to shut high street stores.
It reverts to the August version of the scheme; the government pays 80% of wages of staff not working and businesses pay national insurance and pension contributions. Staff can be brought in and out.
Agency owners said the extension means staff will be better off than they would have been at work under the now-postponed Job Support Scheme (JSS), under which employees would earn at least 73% of wages for working a minimum of 20% of hours.
Independent agencies said they planned to furlough most staff as there was less work than in March. Tui is placing all staff at its 350 shops on furlough, while its homeworking team, created when it closed 166 stores in July, will handle calls during lockdown.
But Advantage Travel Partnership leisure director Kelly Cookes warned it was “too late” for many members.
“Most businesses had made plans for November, a lot of which included redundancies,” she said.
Miles Morgan Travel is assessing which of its 100 staff will work from home and who will be furloughed. Its three stores in Wales reopen on November 9 when lockdown there ends. Its English branches will all shut.
Chairman Miles Morgan said: “The frustration is we’d done all our planning based on the JSS, but now have to look at furlough and the best options for the business.”
He called on government to provide furlough support for agents working while agencies are not generating revenue.
Bailey’s Travel managing director Chris Bailey, whose two-branch agency has lost £3 million in turnover since March, said: “Staff will be better off furloughed than under the JSS. I’ve encouraged them to find sideline jobs.”