British employers planned 58,000 redundancies in August, taking the total to 498,000 for the first five months of the COVID-19 crisis.
These figures were disclosed to the BBC by the Insolvency Service, following a freedom of information request.
In a bid to help those out of work, for at least three months, the government introduced JETS (Job Entry Targeted Support), a new employment programme to support those left jobless due to COVID-19, on October 5.
JETS will see the Department for Work and Pensions ramp up support for claimants to ensure those put forward for the scheme have access to tailored, flexible support to quickly get back into employment.
Prior to this, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) called on the government to give more training and employability support to the many people who have lost their jobs or who are made redundant over the winter.
It called for government to: