Lesya Aleksandrovna, 35, Melbourne, newborns photographer
I was working full time at a hospital photographing newborns. It was a really different job. I got to spend time with babies during a really happy time in most people’s lives. People wanted to share their experience with you. I felt really privileged to be involved in that way.
When the virus came, first the hospital started bringing in more precautions. We had to wash our hands in front of the parents; we had to put on gloves; we couldn’t use props; we had to wear a face mask. We had to be really quick.
Usually a shoot would last for an hour, sometimes longer with a crying baby. We had to limit it to 20 minutes max. You could see the mothers were getting antsy. God forbid if you coughed.
In March, things started winding down. Then we were stood down. I do have a job to go back to but at this stage I don’t know when that’s going to happen.
At the time, we thought it would only be a couple of weeks and then we’d be back. I didn’t have any savings, but I was thinking I’d be back in a job soon. As time went on, I realised that wasn’t going to happen.
I must say, the boosted jobseeker payment has been fantastic. I think it’s enough to get by. It’s by no means a life of luxury, but it’s been a great help. And it’s helping the economy as well.
Now we’re getting close to that September mark, when the boosted jobseeker payments were supposed to end.
Funds are going to be very limited. We’re lucky enough to own our house. But we’ve still got the bills, rates, owners’ corporation fees. I know it’s like “first-world problems” but it’s still scary as well. The bills are not going away. To be honest, I’m freaking out.
I have applied for some telemarketer positions, call centre jobs, anything I could do from home that doesn’t require too much experience. But I haven’t got any callbacks. I don’t have experience in those areas, so I’m not surprised.
I tried a government job search app but the jobs that they’ve matched me with were not in my area of expertise. They sent me links to jobs like a pastry chef, which was completely bizarre, another was for an engineer. It was easier to go on Seek and find something more relevant. Still, at the moment there are just not enough jobs for people.
This is the first time I’ve been unemployed in a long time. I’ve either worked or been at uni. I’ve worked all my life. I’m a self-taught photographer and I had been freelancing for a while. When I fell pregnant, I decided to do that full-time because I had some time to start my own business.
I did family photography for a while. I worked for a couple of photographers doing headshots and stuff like that.
I’ve also worked as a teacher, a counsellor and a nurse. My nursing registration unfortunately lapsed so I can’t really go back to that field unless I repeat the whole year of schooling.
Being unemployed is really bizarre. And it sucks. I have to keep myself entertained every day so I do things around the house, I do stuff with my kid. I’ve started exercising, which I guess is an upside. Anything to distract myself from what’s happening. Of course, the hardest thing is not knowing what is going to happen next.
My main concern is I won’t be back in the workforce for some time. I figure that a newborn photographer is a non-essential role, it’s something people want, not something they need. The hospitals won’t call us until the virus is eradicated.
So I’ve decided to go back to uni and I’m hoping the course I do will allow me to work from home. It’s an IT cyber security course, which is funded by the government.
When the Victorian government announced we were going back into lockdown, it was pretty shocking. Just before it happened, I was speaking to my boss and she was happy. She was like, “Yes, girls, I think we’re gonna be going back on the wards soon. We’re just waiting to get the word from a couple of hospitals to give us the go-ahead.”
The team was quite excited. And then a couple of days later, we got the announcement that it’s all shutting down again.
I’ve also been concerned about my daughter’s future. She’s still a toddler. I don’t know what will happen in 10 years’ time, 20 years’ time.
I don’t know what the world will turn into.
After changes to jobseeker were announced
That is bizarre honestly, it really is. We are not allowed to leave our houses, but we have to go do mutual obligation again?
In terms of cutting the payment, it is horrible as well. We are stuck at home at the moment, we are using more electricity, we are using more gas, our utilities are obviously going up. It is not our fault we are stuck at home. This is just bad news all around.
They should have kept the full payment. They should look to keep that intact. People are not surviving on the current rate.
It’s not a way to live. I do understand it is meant to be a temporary payment. Unfortunately, that payment has been the same since the 80s, the 90s, I’m not sure when. The cost of living has increased and these payments haven’t.
I am happy to look for a job, I don’t know what is going to happen in my current job, but I am not getting any calls back. Where am I going to find one? I’m not a tradie or a construction worker, where it seems the only jobs are these days.
I try not to watch the news these days because it is just too depressing. It is horrible. I don’t know what is going to happen in the future. I am going back to uni, just to get some different qualifications. The kind of qualifications that I have, they are not suitable in this situation. I am looking into more of an IT approach. I might have a job in the future.
I have enough qualifications. I have done psychology, I have done teaching, I have done nursing. We don’t know when it will end, we don’t know when there will be a vaccine, we don’t know if people will take the vaccination.
As told to Luke Henriques-Gomes and Naaman Zhou
• Do you have a story about being unemployed for the first time due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Email luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com
