When Gwen Kong lost her job in sales and account management in February 2020, she became one of the many women thrust into economic insecurity by the pandemic.
During the following 12 months and amid several lockdowns, she left a long-term relationship, moved in with a family member, and picked up some contract work but missed out on many opportunities, some because she was “too qualified”.
“It got to the stage where I took my CV to the supermarket and they just turned around and said, ‘What are we going to do with you?’” Kong said.
By the time Victoria was onto its fifth lockdown, her confidence had taken a hit.
“I was pretty much at the end of my tether when I got a call from my bank and they told me about Fitted for Work. So I bit the bullet and I reached out to them for help,” she said.
“It was big for me because I never allow anyone to see me as the victim. You can call me proud; I allow no one to see me in that vulnerable state.”
Donna de Zwart, the managing director of Fitted for Work, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping women experiencing disadvantage find employment, said Kong’s story was one of many.
“There is a real hidden epidemic within the pandemic of women that we just don’t know about. Women who’ve given up work, purely because they’ve had to take the brunt of those carrying responsibility, or lost work,” she said.
The organisation supported Kong in several ways – it provided her with feedback on her CV, tips to improve her LinkedIn profile, clothes and makeup for job interviews and monthly check-ins on the phone.
She also participated in online workshops alongside women in similar circumstances.
“You know sometimes when you’re so down you can’t pull yourself up, then you speak to other people and you know it’s not that bad? That’s what it was. It was so nice to have a group of women to talk to, especially during lockdown,” Kong said.
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The 49-year-old has since found work – albeit casual – with a recruitment agency, secured a rental in Melbourne’s CBD and is slowly building her confidence back.
“I’m determined to work my way back up,” Kong said.
Fitted for Work is one of six organisations to receive a share of $1.1m in new funding from the Victorian government to help women overcome barriers to economic security.
The funding will support more than 800 women at greater risk of economic insecurity, including single mothers, Aboriginal women, women over the age of 45, women with a disability and women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including migrants and refugees.
The state’s minister for women, Gabrielle Williams, said the pandemic had disproportionately impacted women, given they have been more likely to lose work, suffer severe financial impacts and shoulder an even greater share of unpaid caring responsibilities.
“As our state recovers from the pandemic, all Victorians need the opportunity to rebuild so that no one gets left behind. That’s exactly what this funding will do,” she said.
De Zwart said the funding would allow the organisation to increase the number of services on offer to keep up with demand.
While the organisation supports women of all ages and backgrounds, de Zwart has noticed an increase in older women struggling to find employment post-pandemic.
“We’ve got a whole generation of women who are feeling incredibly anxious about their futures,” she said.
“It’s the one time in a woman’s life where she’s really able to devote herself to her career because she’s got the space to be able to do that. But we do live in an incredibly ageist society.”
Kong admits it’s been challenging trying to secure full-time employment.
“Particularly as an Asian woman, people have this perspective that you don’t speak English well,” she said.
“But I’ve decided that my life from now on, it’s all about positivity. If I’ve had a shit day, I will allow myself 20 minutes, half an hour to feel shit, allow myself to be down, allow myself to cry and after that I’m going to pick myself up.”
