Kingston Council (RB) have announced a new job scheme in the borough on Monday (August 4) after revealing that tens of thousands of residents have been put on furlough amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Kingston Work Match scheme will "work closely with employers to understand their needs and requirements, and support job seekers to access available vacancies" a spokesperson for RBK said.

The council purchased the scheme from Wandsworth Council after its success in the South London borough creating "hundreds of construction jobs, apprenticeships and other training opportunities" according to that council.

RBK said that the scheme has already helped "over 1,500 people" find employment opportunities since its launch in Wandsworth.

However, those figures will likely be dwarfed in Kingston by the scale of the economic downturn now sweeping across the UK economy as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In Kingston, the council signalled Monday that almost 23,000 residents had been put on leave or "furloughed" in the borough during the pandemic so far.

The government are fully winding down their support for furloughed workers' wages by October and large scale unemployment is expected as a result.

"Job brokerage is proven to be highly effective in getting people into jobs and onto sustainable career paths," RBK's Leader Caroline Kerr said.

"This is exactly the kind of support we feel we should be offering residents as part of a green and fair recovery," she added.

While the scheme was purchased from Wandsworth Council, RBK's own finances have taken a massive hit from Covid-19 after years of central government funding cuts.

As the Comet reported earlier this year, the coronavirus pandemic cost RBK over an estimated £19 million.

"COVID-19 has brought great uncertainty and disruption to us all," Kerr pointed out.

"The task force feels really strongly that we want to help and support the many residents who are now facing additional financial pressures brought by the possibility of redundancy," she added.

For more information on the new job scheme, click here.