Grants for the implementation of shortened working week have so far been requested for 25,000 workers, the Vecernji List daily wrote on Friday.

After the cessation of the payment of grants under the job preservation scheme, the government and social partners agreed on the shortened working hours scheme for companies that would like to retain their employees despite their reduced business activities.

To date, 270 small, medium-sized and big companies with 12,500 people on their payrolls have applied for grants for shortened working week. Furthermore, 5,500 micro businesses with about 12,000 workers have also requested this aid.

The number of about 24,500 workers covered by this measure is four to six times lower than what was expected.

A majority of the requests have been sent from the processing industry.

The whole scheme is being funded from the European Union’s SURE instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency.

The SURE instrument will act as a second line of defence, supporting short-time work schemes and similar measures, to help Member States protect jobs and thus employees and self-employed against the risk of unemployment and loss of income.

The SURE instrument is made available after all member states provide their respective guarantees according to their share in the EU’s Gross National Income. SURE is one of the three safety nets whose total value is put at €540 billion, which will be allocated for job preservation and as assistance to enterprises and member states.