Despite having an MBA, Jon, 58, has been looking for employment since 2007. After being made redundant in 2001, Jon took up contracts lecturing at a university in China while his family remained in Australia. Returning to Newcastle in 2007, he still could not find local employment so he took another overseas contract to Tonga. Now back in Australia he is still struggling to secure a job.
Jon believes that his age is the biggest barrier to gaining employment and that he is discriminated against when he applies for jobs that are within his skill set. “You don’t get too many opportunities in my world, in long-term unemployed, but it’s something I want to happen and I don’t know how to make it happen,” he says.
Jon’s business idea is his built around his own homemade beef jerky, which he describes as "flexible and chewy and packed full of flavour.”
Where is he now?
Jon is currently back in Newcastle and remains unemployed. His home made jerky business idea, Jerkin’ With Jon, is still under development.
