Timothy Köhler is a junior researcher and PhD candidate at the Development Policy Research Unit, School of Economics, University of Cape Town. Robert Hill is a junior researcher, junior lecturer and PhD candidate at the unit. Job retention policy — which aims to preserve jobs by alleviating labour costs and supporting the incomes of workers at companies experiencing temporary slowdowns — has served as one of the main tools used across the world to mitigate job losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. These policies help employers to retain workers and avoid the potentially costly process of rehiring and retraining as economic activity picks up again.