More than 6.3 million workers have been furloughed by their employer, meaning the government will fund 80% of their salary but that the employee cannot work.

The government is expected to start winding down the scheme from July, as Whitehall sources suggested the UK was becoming “addicted” to it.

The Guardian spoke to furloughed workers about life in lockdown and what may await them when they return work.

The sales worker

After Mark’s* company lost its biggest client overnight due to coronavirus, he and his colleagues were told to go home, and not to come to work the next day. They went two weeks without pay until the announcement of the government’s furlough scheme, which enabled their company to pay 80% of their salaries.

While the scheme has probably saved Mark’s job in sales, he has still lost about £500 a month, just shy of the £550 he pays to rent his home in Manchester.

“It’s really scary,” he said. “We’ve got car finance, we pay rent, bills, and we’re having to use the money we were saving for a mortgage. My partner and I don’t come from families with a lot of money – we can’t go to the bank of mum and dad. We had about £2,000 in savings, and now we have pennies.”

The 26-year-old and his partner have begun to sell their belongings, from PS4 games to the MacBook Mark uses for work. “ Some are frivolous things but these are our possessions,” he said. “I’m losing sleep, I’m crying every day, and checking the bank account to make sure direct debits are going out. I’m trying not to use credit cards to avoid getting into an even bigger hole.

“I’m absolutely not addicted to having crippling anxiety about not having been paid enough to pay rent or bills, or waking up in the middle of the night panicking. There’s nothing addictive about being frightened about having your things being taken away when you’ve worked for everything.”

The fast food chain worker

Vicky was told her company was shutting its doors by a customer when she was working on a drive through, and checked the news on her break. “It was petrifying,” she said.

She recently moved back in with her parents, and is concerned that the pay cut will leave her unable to move out. She also fears her income will be reduced when she returns to work, as the company is cutting its opening hours and putting fewer workers on shift, which is likely to mean staff cuts.

“I can’t guarantee an income so there’s no guarantee I can move out,” she said. “I’m in my late 30s and can’t move out of my parents house. It’s not ideal.”

The software engineer

“It’s made me question if I made progress in my job, and where my career is going,” said Jamie, a 27-year-old software engineer in London.

Before the outbreak Jamie felt he was doing well at work, but being put on furlough made him question if he was considered a core part of the team. “When they announced that some people were going to be kept on, it seemed like if if you were furloughed you weren’t essential or were less valuable” he said.

Jamie is also concerned that he could be made redundant if the government ends the furlough scheme. “If it did come down to redundancies, will it be those who have been furloughed as they have already been working without us? We already have tight margins, and our CEO has made it clear we aren’t out of the woods,” he said.

His partner works in intensive care and has found the pandemic extremely stressful. “My situation isn’t as bad as his, but the two of us being stressed has amplified it, rather than having one person able to support the other,” he said.

The cabinet maker

“There might be some workshy people but I’m not one of them. I’ve had a job since I was 16 so I don’t know what the chancellor’s talking about when he says people are addicted to wage subsidies,” said Nick, a 55-year-old cabinet maker for a kitchen and bathroom manufacturer.

Nick, who lives in Nottinghamshire, is receiving only £18 less than his normal weekly wage on furlough. However he is unsure of going back to work when the UK has the highest death toll in Europe. “I feel safe being furloughed. I’m a little overweight and my wife is 12 years older than me with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. I’m worried about either of us catching it.

“There’s talk in our WhatsApp group that we might go back to work on Monday. I’m not sure how it will work though as how can you physical distance when you’re installing a kitchen?

“I want to see the death toll and infection rates come right down. I won’t feel safe going back until I see a PMQs with the House of Commons full.”

*Some names have been changed.

• This article was amended on 7 May 2020 to clarify that it was not Rishi Sunak who had suggested that the UK was becoming “addicted” to the furlough scheme.