KLM has again received the most wage cost subsidy this summer. According to the NOW register that the benefits agency UWV published on Wednesday, the airline received at least 285 million euros from the government. There will be another 26 million for Transavia on top.
Companies that saw their turnover evaporate due to the corona crisis were able to apply for the second round of wage support (NOW) this summer. With more than 20 percent loss of turnover, the government took over up to 90 percent of wage costs. The substantial wage subsidy that KLM received is in addition to the individual billion-dollar support that the company receives from the cabinet for “the public interest”.
The IJmuiden Tata Steel is second on the list, with a subsidy of almost 38 million euros, followed by Schiphol. Holland Casino received a hefty 25 million and DAF Trucks more than 20 million. Many temporary employment and payroll companies are among the companies that received wage support from June to September. Carriers such as QBuzz, Arriva and Connexxion also collected a considerable amount, respectively 12, 7 million and 6 million. The least support went to living room café Beneden Sas in Breda, which received 32 euros.
The number of companies that made use of the second round wage subsidy is considerably lower than at the beginning of the crisis. In April, at least 140 thousand employers called on Vadertjestaat, in the summer months the UWV received 63 thousand applications for a total of 4.2 billion euros. This was partly due to the fact that some sectors, such as the hotel and catering industry, were able to reopen this summer (with some problems). 40 percent of companies applying for NOW 1 also received NOW 2.
As of this week, companies can apply for the third round of wage subsidy. Demand for this is expected to increase again because stricter measures have been in place since mid-October than this summer. On Monday, the UWV already received 7,000 applications for support, 1,500 more than on 6 July when the second package started. The bill for the corona support therefore also rises sharply. With Prinsjesdag, the cabinet still expected to lose 3.5 billion euros for this quarter, but that could rise to 10 billion euros.
The NOW subsidy will be phased out from January. Instead of a maximum of 80 percent of the wage costs, employers will then receive 70 percent of the wage costs. In mid-December, the cabinet will assess whether this reduction is still justified under the current corona measures. Trade unions and employers already called on Monday morning not to cut back on aid.
In collaboration with Semina Ajrović
Improvement: An earlier version of this article stated that the amount of NOW support was EUR 2.1 billion. That had to be 4.2 billion.
