Sombre days for Alcoa workers as aluminium plant near Geelong winds up

After more than 50 years as one of Geelong's major employers Alcoa will close its aluminium smelter this week.

One by one the pot lines are being switched off, with the Point Henry plant's final line being shutdown on Thursday. The shutdown was announced in February after the company decided the ageing smelter was no longer financially viable. The closure will leave about 500 workers jobless. Retirement was not an option for many of the plant's young workers. Only about 50 of them have already found a job and many others are retraining.

Inside the smelter, the mood is one of resignation. The pot lines have been switched off one-by-one over the past few weeks.There are photos on the corridor walls marking the sombre occasion.

Alcoa's two rolling mills will also close by the end of the year - one at Point Henry and the other Yennora in New South Wales. Another 500 people will lose their jobs across the two sites. Pain of job losses to hit Geelong after Christmas.

Tim Gooden from Geelong Trades Hall said the impact of Alcoa leaving the city would not be felt immediately.

Alcoa has invested $5 million into the Geelong Region Innovation Fund, which aims to create new jobs in the region. The $21.1 million fund also includes money from Ford, as well as the Victorian and Federal governments.

The Victorian Government said the fund has created 280 jobs in the region.

On top of the 800 people who will not be working at Alcoa, Ford plans to stop making cars in Australia by 2016. About 500 people work for the carmaker in Geelong.

High-tech wheel maker Carbon Revolution plans to hire up to 150 people in the coming years - many of them, retrained Ford and Alcoa workers.