Whyalla local Cassandra Verhoeks says work evaporating as steelworks worries mount
Not long ago this Whyalla mum was making good money. Now she says she’s forced to rely on Centrelink despite the big hopes for her town.
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Confined space watcher Cassandra Verhoeks is looking for a new job – anything that will help pay the bills.
The Whyalla resident, 41, has gone from up to 60 hours a week to none, but she is technically still employed.
It means the income from her $45 an hour job has vanished virtually overnight, and left her on Centrelink benefits.
Ms Verhoeks, whose role involves watching people work in confined spaces, is one of hundreds in the Steel City who have either left or scrambled to find other jobs amid the uncertainty around the steelworks and mining industry.
Whyalla real estate agents have told The Advertiser that the rental vacancy in the town has recently surged to 6.5 per cent..
Ms Verhoeks said she would not hesitate to leave Whyalla for a job with regular and consistent hours, but it would be hard to leave her home city.
“When you get so used to living with a lot of money every week and then when it gets cut down to Centrelink benefits, it’s kind of like a kick in the bum,” she tells The Advertiser.
“I’m still technically employed until they give me hours, but I’m currently looking for a second job because things are so hard.
Despite her current hardships, lessened slightly by her partner holding full-time work with enough hours, she doesn’t necessarily want to leave the Steel City.
But if the right job came up, with enough hours and assurance of a better income, she wouldn’t hesitate to leave the place she calls home.
“I’m not the only one; there’s been a hell of a lot of people who have been laid off or had their hours cut right down,” she said.
“It’s stressful. Depressing. It’s a really hard situation to be in.
“Hopefully things will lift up and they’ll fix things up out there because I’m sure everyone is begging for their jobs back.”
Real estate agencies say they have consistent interest from investors on the back of the upcoming hydrogen development and energy projects.
Andrea Harding, from the Real Estate Institute of SA said they don’t have any data to support the reported 6.5 per cent rental vacancy in Whyalla, and said it was closer to one per cent.
“There are currently 94 properties in the Whyalla region to rent – majority of these are units and smaller houses,” she said.
According to realestate.com.au, the median rental price had increased 8.6 per cent in the past 12 months, peaking at $390 a week.
The website says there are 15 rentals available now with 195 interested renters, with 50 properties leased in the past 12 months.
Whyalla has an annual rental yield of 6.2 per cent.
The median house price has climbed 21.9 per cent in the past 12 months to $390,000.
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