Shepparton has recorded the biggest job losses in regional Victorian during the pandemic, but local industries say they are still "screaming out" for workers.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows almost 12,300 jobs were lost in Shepparton between February last year and September this year.
That's an 18 per cent nosedive in job numbers since the pandemic began.
Retail was the hardest hit, with 3,800 jobs lost between February 2020 and August this year.
Meanwhile, 2,100 jobs were lost in healthcare and social assistance and 2,200 in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
At the beginning of the pandemic, 61.6 per cent of Shepparton's civilian population aged 15 years and over was employed.
By September this year, that figure slumped to 51.4 per cent — the largest drop in regional Victoria.
Women hit hard by COVID job losses
The female workforce was overwhelmingly the hardest hit, with women accounting for 10,000 — more than 81 per cent — of jobs lost in Shepparton.
Leanne Hulm is program manager at GROW Greater Shepparton, which works to support local jobs growth.
She believed multiple factors could be to blame for the over-representation of women in these figures.
"Females working in hospitality, retail or healthcare who have children might have been on casual wages," she said.
"And we've had no schooling, so parents have had to stay home to homeschool and care for children.
"Females will more often than not be the home carer."
Industries crying out for workers
In many industries, including manufacturing and construction, the need for workers has been dire.
"I had a call from someone this week saying they're knocking back tenders because they can't fill positions quick enough to take on the work," Ms Hulm said.
She said other industries were hurting too, with needs stretching from professionals to pickers and packers.
"We've got new healthcare businesses launching in Shepparton," Ms Hulm said.
"And just the amount of infrastructure. We have rail, new building constructions, both private and government, that cannot get trades."
Calls for more consistent, targeted investment
Independent Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed said more state government investment was needed to address the city's stark job loss figures.
"We look to places like Geelong, which have had an increase of more than 18,000 jobs," Ms Sheed said.
"You think, well, what's going on here?
"This will keep our economy ticking over and hopefully give us a chance to really recover from this blow we've suffered with the pandemic."
Ms Hulm agreed long-term investment was needed to future-proof the region.
"But right now, we definitely are in a position that businesses are screaming out for people to go to work," she said.
Rebuilding confidence to return to work
Ms Hulm said some people were not returning to work due to shaken confidence from pandemic job losses.
"Through no fault of their own, they've been out of work and lost their self-esteem," she said.
Many did not apply or simply assumed there was not a job out there for them.
"It's not that they don't want to work. They don't see themselves as being able to navigate a pathway into work," Ms Hulm said.
"They just need people to turn up five days a week and do the work."
