Shorten's $59m plan to woo Geelong

In Geelong, stories of laid-off workers contemplating suicide are common.

The industrial Victorian city is reeling from the impending closure of the car-making industry and metals giant Alcoa's smelter.

Production worker Peter Allen, who works for car parts maker Backwell IXL, says residents have taken it pretty hard.

"It's pretty drastic," he told AAP on Monday.

"I have heard cases where people have ... tried to commit suicide here because of financial reasons."

Mr Allen won't be affected, but some of his colleagues in the automotive section will be with 96 per cent of their work for Holden and Toyota.

Supervisor Jim Millar says work has slowed considerably and while the letting go of workers hasn't happened yet, it's inevitable.

"It's going to be quite a fair few," he said.

Labor leader Bill Shorten visited the plant on Monday to spruik his $59 million plan to help car industry workers retrain and find new jobs.

As he toured the foundry and automotive section, he also tried to rally support for Libby Coker, Labor's candidate in nearby Corangamite, as he introduced her to workers.

Corangamite takes in parts of Geelong, while the factory is situated in the safe Labor seat of Corio, held by opposition frontbencher Richard Marles.

Mr Shorten says 500 companies stand to benefit from the package, but he couldn't promise whether Labor would restore the car-making industry.

"I'm not in the business of making promises we can't keep," he told reporters.

* For support and information about suicide prevention, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78)