When Chris Robertson started at the Maryvale paper mill in his early 20s, he thought he had secured a job for life.
But this week he found out production of the white paper he helped make at the Latrobe Valley plant is being stopped.
"It's really, really gutting because at the end of the day, you start at Maryvale and you think you've got a job for life because they cared about you," he said.
"Unfortunately I think those days are gone."
The 55-year-old is the third generation of his family to work at the mill, and one of his sons worked there with him.
"My Uncle Frank worked there, and all I wanted to do was follow Uncle Frank's footsteps, be the shift worker and lead his own crew," he said.
"But that's just been taken away from us."
Hundreds of job losses
After months of speculation, Opal Australian paper has announced it will close its white paper production line after being unable to secure alternative wood supplies to replace a shortfall from VicForests.
A document sighted by the ABC shows approximately 156 jobs are set to go, but unions are worried the final number will be higher, with fears maintenance jobs and other support positions will also be affected.
Father of two Jeremy Holt had worked just three shifts at the mill before the first warnings about job losses came late last year.
"I left a full-time job and came into this role thinking that I had a job for life," he said.
"Now I'm back to square one, finding work in the Valley that will support myself and my family."
Mr Holt said he had applied for work at a nearby yoghurt factory but expected he would be among dozens in the same applicant pool.
"That's the last real shift-work place that will keep going with the power stations due to shut," he said.
What will fill the gap?
The area is no stranger to sudden, mass job losses.
In 2017, hundreds of workers lost their jobs at the Hazlewood power station when it closed with about six months' notice.
Latrobe City Council Mayor Kellie O'Callaghan said ensuring state and federal governments, and Opal, provided enough support for affected workers at Maryvale was a priority.
She also called on the state government to fast-track plans to bring the State Electricity Commission back and proposed renewable projects.
She said the short notice made it difficult to plan a transition for workers.
"They are highly skilled workers, they do have transferable skills, but we need those other industries to be online and ready to go to transition them over," she said.
"If there's a big gap, then that significantly burdens not only individual households, families more broadly, but also the community as well.
"We don't have some of those things online at the moment, they are commitments and we know that we're going to continue working with the government to ensure we understand what those jobs will be, what they'll look like, and how we transfer these workforces over."
