When does furlough end ?

This was one of the top 5 “when” queries in Google search in 2020. Understandably, furlough has been a big topic for discussion here in Northern Ireland as well. Ever since I landed here, I have made countless friends and met complete strangers out of my journalistic curiosity a number of who I found were on ‘furlough’. Furlough is not too much of a concept in India so I took a while to understand but now I do.
The question got me thinking – when does furlough end? For many I know, it has continued since last year while they and their families have gone through countless miseries including health setbacks. While much of the UK has been opening up and out of the lockdown, the Delta variant of Coronavirus is causing some concern even though restricted to only some areas in England so far. Until economy gathers pace and economic activity comes back up on its feet, furloughs are here to stay, I fear.