A restaurateur has told an unemployed man who can’t find a job to apply for one of his 200 job openings: “We have plenty of opportunities for anyone who wants to put their finger on it.”
Businessman Chris Lucas – best known for running high-end Sydney and Melbourne restaurant franchise Chin Chin – told Radio 2GB on Thursday that he would “love to meet” Jez Heywood and “see what kind of character he is”.
Mr Heywood, the 47-year-old president of the Australian unemployed union, was at the center of an argument with 2GB radio presenter Ben Fordham this week after expressing anger at the $2.85 increase in jobseekers’ payments per month. day by the federal government in the recent federal budget.
Following an interview with Mr Heywood, many of Fordham’s listeners called up this week accusing him of ‘making excuses’ not to work – while Mr Heywood called Fordham a ‘coward’ and a ‘bully’.
Fordham has since campaigned to find Heywood a job, prompting Mr Lucas to call and suggest a position was available at his company.
“For anyone struggling to find a job, we currently have close to 200 job openings and I’m not alone.
“There are restaurants across Australia that are struggling to get staff. Pick up the phone, as long as you’re honest.’
Fordham said Jez Heywood (pictured) had been offered jobs through 2GB and was invited to go on air to accept them
Mr Heywood was invited to come on air to discuss and discuss job opportunities shared with Fordham, but has so far declined.
The job seeker, who previously worked as a graphic designer, said: ‘Fordham’s cheap publicity stunt deliberately sweeps under the carpet the issues I advocate – which cause so much pain.
“Anything so he can boost ratings and act like the hero on his own airwaves.”
“Ben Fordham’s offer to find me a job is just a distraction from the real problem I’ve raised… the horribly low income support for the unemployed and the woefully inadequate raising of Albanian for JobSeeker” wrote Mr. Heywood Twitter.
An unemployed man has refused to compete with 2GB’s Ben Fordham (pictured) – even though the radio presenter helped him look for work
“If Fordham really wanted to help, he wouldn’t be giving minute-by-minute updates, claiming I was invited back to the show in the media hours before a producer got in touch, and making a gaudy show of it.”
However, Mr. Lucas said he would like to meet Mr. Heywood and could find him a job if he “has a good character, a good work ethic … rather than being a mad bludger.”
Mr Heywood said he had been ‘very open about my battle with my mental health, which isn’t easy – especially when you’re stuck living so far below the poverty line’.
“This appalling kind of welfare shaming that Fordham has been doing for several days now, and what his shock jock predecessors have been doing for decades, is doing incredible damage to people’s mental health,” he said.
But Graham Wynn of the employment agency Super People Recruitment said people’s mental health improves when they get a job.
“Going back to work changes people’s lives,” he said. “It is crucial for your own self-esteem to get back to work. If you’re looking for work, there’s work.’
Jez Heywood tweeted that he ‘had the guts to stand up and call out (Ben Fordham)’
Despite Mr Heywood’s reluctance to go on-air, Fordham also interviewed a man named Ben, who said he had been in contact with the job seeker to offer work in his specialist area of graphic design.
“I forwarded him some basic, high-level requirements of what I’m looking for,” Ben said.
‘He’s looking at that. I really have every confidence that this is really going to be something good.’
The potential employer added that “this whole experience with Jez has made me think about my own time some 25 years ago when I was forced into a similar position, where you have unemployment benefits.
“It’s quite a depressing time, it’s really hard to get rid of it (well-being) once you get into it. There’s a huge stigma attached to it, which doesn’t help either,” he said.