The Tory peer’s views were echoed by Dixons chief executive Alex Baldock, who has put 16,500 employees on furlough.
He said: “We are starting to raise our gaze beyond this crisis to how things might be different. In short, we would support a tapering of government relief rather than just ending on a cliff edge.”
Business leaders and officials have discussed allowing furloughed workers to go back to work with part of their salary still covered by the taxpayer, similar to schemes in Europe.
Staff could work for a couple of days a week while still getting a subsidy.
Companies laying off more than 100 employees must carry out a 45-day consultation before firing them – a process that can take even longer if workers are not unionised and have to appoint representatives.
To avoid having to pay returning staff from July 1, employers would need to start sackings by mid-May.
Jon Taylor of law firm EMW said the Government must clarify whether the scheme will be extended to avoid to launch redundancy processes being launched by default.
A Treasury spokesman said: “We will take into account the wider context of the lockdown, the public health response and the longer-term economic recovery when taking any decision on how and when to close the scheme.”
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has held talks with the Business Secretary about bringing people back gradually.
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general said: “Some support systems will need to stay in place. One of the most interesting next steps on the job retention scheme is how it becomes more flexible [with either] tapered furloughing or partial furloughing.”
Craig Beaumont at the Federation of Small Businesses warned a “cold stop” to the scheme at the end of June would be disastrous.
He said: “As we transition out of furlough, there is the opportunity in June to start to think about flexibility and that has landed pretty well. It is a very active discussion.