ENDING the furlough scheme too early could kill any recovery before it even starts, unions have warned.

The government began reducing the contribution it makes to the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) today, with employers having to pay an initial 10 per cent towards the 80 per cent of wages that furloughed workers receive.

About 2.4 million workers remained on furlough at the end of May, down from a peak of nearly nine million at the height of the pandemic a year before.