[1] Several Central European countries use such subsidies to limit the impact on the economy as a whole or a particular sector from short-term threats such as a recession, pandemic, or natural disaster.
[2] Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, the government of Czech Republic Andrej Babiš announced plans to partially subsidize salaries of employees on reduced work schedules, covering 50–70% of pay for 1, 2, or up to 4 days per week that employees are at home due to shocks to companies coming from pandemics or natural disasters.
Employers have to cover health and social insurance for the days when workers are at home, and employees contribute by the partial reduction in their pay.
[3] It was in Germany that a system of "Kurzarbeitergeld" (Kurzarbeit benefits) was first introduced, on May 25, 1910, to address a downturn in the potash mining and fertilizer industry.
The program was favorably cited in a 2009 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, which stated that it had saved nearly 500,000 jobs during the recession.