Verena Puello encourages her colleagues to call her ‘Mama’ in the kitchen.
When she moved to Australia from Colombia six years ago, people struggled to pronounce her Colombian name.
“I said, ‘no worries. I am the oldest woman here, call me Mama,'” she said.
But, as a woman in her 50s, it was not easy for Ms Puello to find work in the first place.
She moved to Melbourne in 2015, to be with her daughters after her husband was killed in a plane crash in Colombia.
“What now for my life?” she said.
During the pandemic, Ms Puello signed up for a state government program that pairs people looking for work with industries looking for staff.
Six years after arriving in Australia, she now has her first ongoing job in a kitchen in social enterprise restaurant Free to Feed, in Melbourne’s inner north.
She said the job had made her a new woman.
“I was just cooking in my home town for my family, but now I am an international chef,” she said, throwing her head back as she laughed.
Mother and daughter working side by side
Her daughter, Zuaad Guerra, is also part of the program, being paid to complete her certificate three in hospitality while she works at the same restaurant.
She said she was working towards opening a restaurant and Colombian food business with her mother.
“I have the front of house skills, and she has the kitchen skills,” she said.
Hospitality industry hard hit by the pandemic
The hospitality sector has been calling out for more staff for months, as the Omicron wave exacerbated staff shortages during the busy summer period.
Employment Minister Jaala Pulford said the hospitality industry was one of many partnering with the government to get people into jobs.
“It’s a sector that has had a really heavy reliance on overseas students, backpackers and people travelling, so they have been particularly hit,” she said.
Loretta Bolotin, chief executive of Free to Feed, said the two women were an asset to the restaurant.
“I think the local community love what we do at Free to Feed, and are excited about the multiculturalism, the diversity and the food we provide.”
Jane Trewin, executive director of education at Box Hill Institute, said the industry was very keen to hire skilled workers.
“The hospitality industry is really going through a skills shortage at the moment,” she said.
She said the training involves a qualification, as well as mentoring and masterclasses.
“Giving people all these skills and possibilities, and then they can follow their own path,” she said.
Focus on people at risk of not working
More than 200 people have been placed in hospitality jobs through the Jobs Victoria program, at a cost of $3.62 million.
The government funds Box Hill Institute to provide training, then employers pay staff award rate or higher.
Ms Pulford said the focus was on women over 45, young people under 25 and long-term jobseekers.
“We choose these groups because the data tells us that’s where the problem needs the greatest focus and attention,” Ms Pulford said.
“We know that women over 45 are at real risk of not getting back into work if they’ve been out of work, we know that people under 25 can struggle to get their start.”
Back in the restaurant, Ms Puello said she loved cooking traditional Colombian food for customers.
She said her favourite food to cook was arepas with eggs because it reminded her of her father.
“For me, cooking is a good way for sharing my love and culture in Australia with another people,” she said.
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