Great divide: Sydney suburbs with the most COVID-19 job losses
Hundreds of thousands of jobs across NSW have been lost amid the economic fallout from COVID-19 but some suburbs have been harder hit than others as the ‘latte line’ continues to divide the state.
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Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost amid the economic fallout from COVID-19 but some regions have been harder hit than others as the ‘latte line’ continues to divide NSW.
Data obtained by The Daily Telegraph has for the first time revealed the NSW regions that lost - and those that kept - the most jobs in the wake of the pandemic.
Suburbs of Sydney’s west and southwest have been disproportionately affected by the economic fallout from COVID-19 with thousands of jobs lost as businesses were forced to shut up shop.
The data from Services Australia shows the NSW regions with the largest number of JobSeeker recipients in the four months to April.
Since the pandemic started in December, more than 183,000 of the nation’s 615,000 JobSeeker recipients have come from NSW.
While an estimated 252,200 employers have since applied for the JobKeeper scheme, it’s estimated thousands of people are still out of work.
The bleak new data shows the western and southwestern areas of Merrylands, Liverpool, Canterbury and Campsie, Cabramatta and Greenacre were among the top ten areas for job losses.
Merrylands, Canterbury and Liverpool all suffered horrendously as a result of the cash crisis, with 942, 921 and 907 people respectively receiving the JobSeeker payment since December 2019.
But not all inner city suburbs came out unscathed with Marrickville, Newtown and Waterloo joining the top ten areas for job losses despite north and east suburbs recording a relatively low number of job losses.
35-year-old community worker Nicole Hailes was one of thousands of Liverpool residents who lost their job at the height of the pandemic.
She was working at Liverpool Neighborhood Connection when the COVID-19 lockdown forced the the centre to close down and layoff staff - leaving her no choice but to apply for JobSeeker.
“With my depression and anxiety, I did suffer. My routine had been uplifted. You don’t have a purpose and I was up all night, not sleeping. Then I had to deal with Centrelink.”
“Participating in society is huge for me and I’m a people pleaser so I really wanted to be out there and doing something.”
The young Minto resident was on welfare for six weeks before the government’s JobKeeper program landed her back in work.
“I was over the moon when I found out,” she said.
When asked about the high unemployment rate in Liverpool, Hailes says it is “heartbreaking” to know so many are without work - especially given many were not so lucky.
“It’s sad to think. It makes you speechless to think so many people have lost their job.
“My wish is everyone would have JobKeeper like me.”
But the west is not the only region hard-hit by the virus. Byron Bay had the tenth highest rate of applications across NSW with 748 people turning up to Centrelink in need of help.
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The ‘latte line’ divides Sydney
Exclusive suburbs in Sydney’s north and east as well as industrial hubs dominated the list of those that survived with the least job losses.
Suburbs near industrial heartlands like Badgerys Creek, Holsworthy Military Area, Smithfield Industiral, Sydney Airport, Yennora Industrial, Port Botany and Port Kembla all fared the best for job retention, recording zero JobSeeker applications.
Some of Sydney’s most elite areas also dominated the list of those with the least job losses with Rose Bay, Vaucluse, Port Hacking, Hunters Hill and Lavender Bay, North Sydney and Paddington all recording a low number of recipients.
But some suburbs at the edge of the ‘latte line’ including Marrickville, Newtown and St Peters suffered along with the west, recording a high number of JobSeeker applications.
The figures come as payroll data from the Bureau of Statistics (ABS), shows the number of employees on payroll in NSW fell 7.7 per cent from mid-March to the start of May despite the government’s JobKeeper scheme.
The state suffered the second-highest drop in jobs across Australia, with parts of NSW where tourism is the dominant industry worst-hit by the virus.
Payroll numbers were down 11.8 and 11.2 per cent respectively in the Mid North Coast of NSW and Coffs Harbour.
A spokesperson for NSW Treasurer Dominic Perottet said the unemployment figures were “sobering” but the government’s stimulus measures would help boost jobs growth.
Billie Sankovich, executive director of the Western Sydney Community Forum said she has been flooded with calls from already vulnerable groups who have been hard hit by the virus.
Adam Leto, executive director of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue echoed similar concerns.
“There’s a large migrant community in the area and they’re the vulnerable ones. The second aspect is western Sydney is consumer driven and when there’s downturn in consumer spending it’s gonna have a flow-on impact.”
He says the government’s work in stimulating infrastructure investment in the west is key to driving future job growth.
Carol Mills, an expert in local government at the University of Technology, urged the government to extend welfare support and work with industry to promote jobs growth, warning the worst is yet to come.
“A lot of companies hanging on with JobKeeper may have to hang up so we may not have hit the high point of unemployment, which is why we need a coordinated local and national strategy and investment in building value chains.”
The sobering statistics come as the government greenlights a $28 million recycling plant in Penrith to support 130 western Sydney jobs.
The project is one of a raft of projects slated for western Sydney that are aimed at creating jobs.
The sobering statistics come as the government greenlights a $28 million recycling plant in Penrith to support 130 western Sydney jobs.