A new support scheme to replace furlough has been unveiled by the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
It will mean thousands of people in Wales will be eligible for support – as long as they are in work for a least a third of their hours.
The government will then help top up wages, with companies asked to pay 55% of the bill.
The new emergency fund will be in place for six months, from 1 November.
The current furlough scheme comes to an end in October.
Mr Sunak said the furlough scheme would end because the support must “adapt and evolve”.
He said no decision was harder but it was “fundamentally wrong” to keep people in unviable jobs.
“I can’t save every job – no chancellor could,” he told MPs as he unveiled details of the new Job Support Scheme.
Under the new scheme, a worker who does a minimum of 33% of their weekly hours will be guaranteed 77% of their weekly wage.
It would see the UK government paying a 22% slice of the bill – with firms paying the rest.
In addition to the furlough replacement, the chancellor announced that businesses borrowing money through the government’s loan scheme would also be given more time to repay the money.
A VAT cut for hospitality and tourism companies will also be extended until March. The cut from 20% to 5% VAT – which came into force on 15 July – had been due to expire on 12 January next year.
Responding to the announcement, the business body CBI Wales welcomed the pledges.
“These bold steps from the Treasury will save hundreds of thousands of viable jobs this winter,” said CBI Wales director Ian Price.
“The chancellor has listened to evidence from business and unions, acting decisively.
“It is this spirit of agility and collaboration that will help make 2021 a year of growth and renewal.”
The furlough scheme was designed to help people who couldn’t do their jobs because of the pandemic and prevent mass redundancies.
Under the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme, to give furlough its official title, workers placed on leave have been able to receive 80% of their pay, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
Since July, furloughed employees have been able to go back to work part-time. with the furlough scheme covering the other three days not worked.
Employers now have to pay 10% of the wages of furloughed workers, plus their National Insurance and pension contributions.
The scheme covers full-time, part-time, flexible, zero-hour and agency workers if they were on their employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020.
Workers must be furloughed for at least three weeks, and can be furloughed more than once.
Companies can no longer make new furlough claims, except for people coming back from statutory parental leave or returning military reservists.
How popular has the scheme been?
The take-up has been significant, with 9.6 million workers furloughed by 1.2 million employers across the UK since March.
These employers had made £39.3bn of furlough claims by 20 September and the scheme will cost the government an estimated £60bn in total, less than the £80bn initially forecast.
Across the UK, the current percentage of eligible workers on furlough stands at 12%, according to the Office for National Statistics.