Out of work in Victoria: How the pandemic shattered lives

As the coronavirus pandemic upended life across the world last March, almost 900,000 jobs evaporated in Australia – a wipe-out the scale of which has not seen since the Great Depression.

Victoria was hit hard; in 100 days from February, an estimated 188,000 jobs were lost. The country’s harshest and longest lockdowns after a series of deadly outbreaks meant recovery has been slow.

The state government’s initial fears of unemployment skyrocketing to 11 per cent never eventuated due to Australia’s success in combating the virus and stimulus measures. But the Victorian jobless rate is still forecast to remain high – about 6 per cent in a year’s time – and thousands of those who lost jobs remain without one, or with drastically fewer hours. The recovery is a complicated one, with some industries such as aviation, education and tourism still floundering.

The withdrawal of the federal government’s multibillion-dollar JobKeeper wage subsidy and the $150 fortnightly coronavirus supplement, both of which are set to expire at the end of next month, is likely to cause further pain for many.

To capture the stories of Victorians trying to find work, The Age spent time with half-a-dozen people as they dealt with the pandemic’s uncertainty, navigated the welfare system – some for the first time, worried how they would meet the month’s rent or mortgage and found new jobs.

In this six-part series, The Age tells their stories.

Part one: The entertainer

Part two: The older unemployed worker

Part three: The small business owner, savaged by the pandemic

Part four: The overseas student, in a devastated hospitality industry

Part five: The young worker, buffeted by the pandemic

Part six: The out-of-work academic keeping poverty at bay