The Government's decision to transfer many contracts to new providers on July 1 not only forced a number of not-for-profit job network agencies in western suburbs to close, but also created a "transition period" for job-seekers.

This comes after the Telegraph report on July 7, revealing Department of Education, Employment and Workplace data showed dole-seeker numbers in Sunbury rose 37 per cent to 799 in May from 579 for the same period last year. The transition period has driven Sunbury job-seeker James Davison to abandon the agencies and stand on a side of the Calder Freeway with a placard asking for a job.

"One of the reasons I stood on the side of the freeway two weeks ago was because it was taking too long for the transition between employment agencies to happen," Mr Davison said.

"I had registered with employment agencies that shut down when their tenders ran out in June.

"The new agencies are taking time to set up and get established...I am still without a job and I don't know where else to go."

Mr Davison has been without stable employment for the past six months and is desperate to find work after being forced to sell his 18-month-old German shepherd dog last month to help pay bills.

A Sunbury transport business owner, John, who did not want his name published, said

he had jobs to offer but had not been provided with a candidate in two years, despite having been registered with the employment wing of the Djerriwarrh Employment and Education Services agency.

But the DEES chief executive officer Trish Heffernan refuted the employer's claims.

"Unemployment wasn't as much of an issue in November and December. It only started to increase in February.

"We may not have had suitable clients [for John]...I couldn't comment on that particular situation." Ms Heffernan said the education and training section of the agency was still functioning, but its job network section closed in June because of the Government changes.

A spokesman for Employment Participation Minister Mark Arbib said a job-seeker's income support was not affected while they were in transition between agencies.

"New agencies that took over the tender on July 1 have been actively starting [helping] job-seekers in the new services."

Job-seekers experiencing difficulties could call the customer service line, 1800805260.