When mother of two Tracy Jobe started looking for a job after four years out of the workforce, she didn’t think fitness classes would be part of the deal.
“It’s something that I thought, ‘Nup no way, it’s not going to happen,'” she said.
“But now we’re all getting in amongst it and it makes you really aware that to be work fit, it’s not just in your mind, you have to be body fit as well.”
Tracy has been ramping up her exercise as part of a four-week employment course in Ipswich, west of Brisbane.
The courses are being rolled out by the Inspiring Brighter Futures Foundation for the first time in Queensland this year, teaching skills from fitness and nutrition to money management, with a big focus on self-esteem.
Toni (who didn’t want to use her full name) is ready to get back into paid work too.
“I haven’t worked for about 20 years,” she said.
“I was a stay-at-home mum, then I looked after my mother and now I’m looking after the grandkids.
“I’ve been doing everything else, for everybody else.”
Toni said she needed the money from paid work, but she was also ready for the change.
“Just to be able to get up of a morning and have something to look forward to,” she said.
“And to help me get out of the house.”
Long-term unemployment creeping up
Long-term unemployment, where people have been unemployed for a year or more, fell to a multi-decade low in April 2023, but it’s been increasing with more people not getting enough hours or struggling to get a job at all.
Inspiring Brighter Futures Foundation founder and CEO John Godwin said people who had been unemployed for years needed extra support to rejoin the workforce.
“There is a push with TAFE to skill them up,” he said.
“But you can’t skill up someone who’s not feeling like they’re in that space and isn’t ready.”
He said the groups focused on health and fitness for two hours every day of the course.
“And that’s team building, it’s fun, it’s getting them walking again and doing other exercise.
“There’s a huge benefit for them personally because it’s a reminder they can get out and do things.
“And some of the participants keep doing that exercise together after the course.”
Good mindset
Mr Godwin’s organisation is rolling out courses in communities including Ipswich, the Gold Coast, Mount Isa and Townsville, with funding from the federal government.
There have been good results so far, with the majority of participants going on to further training or straight into a job.
Mr Godwin said involving local employers and councils and getting volunteers to mentor participants were a big part of the success.
“I’ve heard a number of employers say as long as they’ve got a good attitude and a good mindset that they will employ them and teach them the skills,” he said.
“We use the analogy that if a person can’t ride a bike there’s generally three reasons.
“One, they don’t have a bike, so no job. Two they don’t know how to ride a bike, so they don’t have the skills.
“Or three, which we find the most pressing with long-term unemployment, is that there’s trauma and there’s shame getting in the way.”
Going into work or further study
Former solicitor Helen Winter has been running the Ipswich back-to-work programs.
She explained there had been good progress, but it was not always a quick fix for participants.
“The majority of these guys are invigorated enough to do a course or further study,” she said.
“They’re not all ready to go straight back into employment, I recognise that.
“But they’re all on the pathway to the next step which could even be something like getting a driver’s licence.”
For Toni, it has been easier to work through the challenges of finding a job with others.
“It helps with the mental health because other people are going through it and we can sort of help each other out,” she said.
“It helps get you out of your head and make changes.”
And, as she finished her last week of the program, Tracy Jobe was feeling ready for the next steps.
“I moved to Ipswich with just my two children and a bag of clothes,” she said.
“Now I’m in a better spot to realise that I can be more than just the mum and the rebuilder of the family, I can be also the provider.”
The workshops are funded until August this year, with Inspiring Brighter Futures hoping to secure funding to continue them in Queensland and other parts of the country.