Furloughed

Every so often a word enters the public conversation that you have never heard before, but all of sudden is everywhere. A word that captures the zeitgeist. In the summer of 2006 it was metatarsal. In the Autumn of 2019 it was prorogue. In the Spring of 2020 it was furlough. 

I was granted a leave of absence from work on 6 April and am still furloughed as I write this at the end of May. Whilst all around key workers are keeping the lights on I am being paid to stay at home. 

There have been moments when the enormity of why I am at home and not stuck on a motorway somewhere has escaped me. These moments have, I admit, usually involved a book, a beer and some late afternoon sunshine. For the most part though this has not been an especially relaxing time. 

Like all families (apart from those involved in the running of the country) we have had to deal with not going anywhere, which was novel at first, but quickly become a nuisance. Layered on top of that has been the home-schooling (viability appraisals are no preparation for multiplying fractions) and, early on especially, answering questions about why a daily death toll was leading every news bulletin. 

The single biggest jolt to the system though was going from being fully involved at work to, a matter of hours later, not being involved at all. I imagine that Jose Mourinho felt the same during his stadium ban in 2015. There is a match going on that I helped prepare the team for and, whilst I can hear the oohs and aahs coming from inside the ground, I am stood outside completely oblivious as to what is going on. I am reading about the issues that the pandemic is creating for the sector and I am talking to friends about how they are dealing with it, but I am not experiencing the issues or helping to deal with anything myself. 

The other not insignificant cloud hanging over this experience is the economic aftermath of the pandemic. Will this recession be short and sharp like the last application on an evening planning committee agenda or will it be as slow and painful as adopting a local plan? 

During the depths of the Credit Crunch a wise old head told me that one should expect to endure four recessions during a career. I graduated and started working twenty years ago this year and so, on the basis that I have got another twenty or so years to go, I will be about halfway through and so this recession is right on schedule. 

This one differs from 2008 in at least two ways though. Firstly, I have the experience of that first one, and the other ups and downs in my career to date, to draw upon this time around. Secondly, the current crisis is, first and foremost, one of public health, which helps to put everything else into perspective.

I was invited to adapt my previous post and write 500 words on the experience of being furloughed, but the inviting party decided not to use it so I thought I would post it anyway.