It's mostly about securing some income so that conditions can still be provided to employees. Retail employment can be very volatile, especially in stores. A number of industries will need to draw from the same pool of employees during the recovery. The bottom line is that maintaining the subsidy ensures that highly skilled employees can be promised some income.
This measure may help in the coming months. However, how quickly will the funds from this program be withdrawn from retailers' revenue? Will this phase-out of subsidies align with the decrease in the number of cases and the reopening of stores? This remains to be seen.