Came across the following article where the chap was revealing his 'insane' FIFO salary. He earned $3470 during his first week, working 84hours a week.
Assuming that's his gross salary, which works out to $184k for 84hours week of work, which is just a tad over $90k equivalent of a 40hr week. What am I missing here?
i pretty sure they work 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off or something like that. im expecting they get paid for the off time too. and they get fed and a place to live.
My brother in law works 3 weeks on/1 week off and has to commute to the other side of the country. Of course the money is good but he definitely earns it with long hours and lifestyle sacrifices.
If you look at the total hours worked it actually isn't that great.
nope, not paid for the off time
long hoursss
What am I missing here?
about a 2/3rds of your year working away from home/living in a remote isolated area
FIFO pays big because they are buying 'you' for a large part of your time.
must be a slow news day at news.com, or BHP needs some more entry level positions filled :)
nice flex
JUST NEED A SMALL $1 MILLION INHERITANCE
The classic opening line of any reputable piece of journalism…
An Irish fly-in fly-out worker has revealed
"An Irishman once said…"
The perks of FIFO work, as alluded to in that article, are nothing like they used to be in the boom period of the early 2010s and this is also vaguely mentioned in passing in that article:
Mining jobs have the number one rank according to SEEK with an average salary for someone working in the mining industry being $116,000 – a drop of 13.96 per cent from 2013.
There are quite a lot of industries where the median salary is now +$100,000; back in 2013 the mining industry would have been leading the average salary metric by a massive margin but these days mining companies have cut back enormously on salaries, especially for entry-level roles. The golden era of FIFO work where you could land cushy jobs driving dump trucks back and forth with no tertiary qualifications and pull down $200K a year are long gone.
Nowadays, the amenities, accommodation and food on-site are mostly terrible, suicides are a regular occurrence as are bouts of alcohol-fuelled drunken violence, workplace morale is probably the worst it's been in the past 20 years and the mining industry still has the 3rd-highest fatality rate nationally for workplace accidents.
Yeah the salaries can still be insane relative to required qualifications for some roles but that completely ignores the toll that long-term FIFO work takes on a person, as per several studies on the topic have shown, FIFO workers have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, alcoholism, substance abuse, familial/relationship issues, poor mental health and other disorders compared to the general population. Access to mental health services on-site is also non-existent in many organisations.
These days you can make very similar salaries to FIFO workers in a lot of professions that have a far healthier work-life balance and won't burn you out to the point of contemplating suicide or becoming an alcoholic/drug addict (which funnily enough is exactly what another news.com.au article on FIFO workers delved into).
He earned $3470 during his first week, working 84hours a week
Didn't read the aritcle, but most FIFO are like x on y off. I don't know the numbers but basically you do insane hard hours for like a whole week (hence the many hours/lots of cash) and then you do nothing for a number of days to recoup. Wouldn't be surprised if the article left the bit where you don't work out. Otherwise why else do weekly instead of yearly which would be more attention grabbing.
What am I missing here?
Quite a bit IMO, some things that I know from people who work FIFO
IMO if you're youngish and have a few years on you, its a great way to get a lot of money quickly before you start a career/permanent position. Could even allow you to start buying a property if you have a good exit strategy. But I'd be careful looking at it as a "career" and thinking its constant income.
He earned $3470 during his first week, working 84hours a week
Geez $41 an hour…
Nothing really to write home about.
News.com really capitalising on low IQ readers.
I finally read the article
Mr McIlwaine’s rotation means he works two weeks on, two weeks off.
He said in his first week, which is only four days due to travel, he was earning $3470 and in his second week, $3944.
Also they add:
Mining jobs have the number one rank according to SEEK with an average salary for someone working in the mining industry being $116,000 – a drop of 13.96 per cent from 2013.
Which really puts it into perspective when you think yearly salary.
IMO don't be surprised if this is just an advertisement to get more applications for the WA/Queensland Mining, which it seems to suggest.
Ends with:
FIFO work is becoming an increasingly popular career option for Australians, as mining and energy sites across the nation search for people to work in remote and regional locations
FIFO work arrangements are predominant in Western Australia and Queensland
bingo. we have a winner. this article is a thinly veiled advertisement for mining jobs.
Yep, and that’s not counting the fact that in most jobs 84hrs in one week would generally involve OT at significant penalty rates, meaning the real hourly rate is even lower
FIFO seems similar to interstate truck driver.
hooray can make 100k working insanely long hours, with extra long weekends.
Cons: alcoholism, drugs, obesity/ruined body.
Fifo is a lot more appealing from a work life balance point of view.
At least you get a set roster and can plan your life.
Interstate/long haul trucking is a nightmare on your personal life.
The cons are generally family and time issues.
Drugs/alcohol/obesity is a personal issue for people, not usually a direct result of doing those jobs. (Although, sometimes when people realise missing so much time with their family/friends/life for work wasn’t worth it, they may turn to those things)
I did interstate for several years… it can depend if your an owner driver or company driver.. Owners can get drilled hard. Others dont take it and move to other contracts.
I've had companies that will work you into a box.. I've had others that are very happy for you to take your time…
Cons: alcoholism, drugs, obesity/ruined body.
Isnt that like anyone in life?
Yes and no I guess. You are 100% right. Big thing is working hours that most people think are insane and in some pretty hazardous places. Can be quite lucrative if you stick to it for the long run. I wouldn't have any idea what working 38 hours a week feels like though and my health has suffered from it in the past. Hays salary review has some good detail on what the salaries are. Probably better ways of making money though if I think back.
UG operators can earn up to ~$350k/annum. Managers can earn that or more if long term incentives are included. It feels like a stupid amount of money but you do give up a lot and there is a lot of attrition along the way.
Is that lucrative? Not sure, but AusHenry reckons $180k/annum defines a High Earner.
It's not just miners out there twisting big drills by hand and stuff. There's also FIFO cooks, room cleaners, doctors, and such. The cook jobs don't pay as much and the doctor jobs pay more, but they all still pay more than what you could make in the city for the same job, per hour anyway.
It's not that much more anymore. With the huge demand for people everywhere some jobs can be really hard to fill. Nurses can take on pretty lucrative contracts, getting a nurse to work a mining site is really difficult. A lot of trades people are making a killing working in cities these days too, it's hard to pay them enough to leave their family for a week or two at a time to work in a dirty old mine in the middle of nowhere.
Chefs are in short supply nationally, they all found new jobs over covid and have little desire to go back to it, it seems.
Few friends did it in the 80's/early 90s … they are all retired and living the high life, travel, surfin holidays etc. Homes paid off
Yes they worked for it, not you dont get anywhere without working.
Remember it isnt for everyone.. its a hard life and a rough existence… but wish I'd have given it a go back in the day :(
It pays more than stacking shelves at the supermarkets, etc., because the conditions are tough. Long working hours and no overtime pay. In your time off you need some time to recover.
More dangerous than non-mine type work, bad for relationships, bad for health and you still have to pay rent at home when on site.
The worse thing is the irregular sleep hours - that's the worse thing you can do to your health (of course most of the FIFO workers don't engage in this kind of long term strategic thinking). https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/this-ma…
From a taxation point of view a high income is not the most effective way of making a living; better would be capital gains where you defer when you pay the tax and at 50% if held for more than 12 months, or through various structures. That is, ~half of your hard work is for the taxman.
Leaving your house for a week at a time is a perk to some.
If the place was nice and cold I would consider it.
That pay is for the 84 hour week. Not time off.
If its 2:1 then annual pay would be close 120k.
2:1 long term is quiet hard though know some people that have been 2:2 for a while. The pay isn't much different to working in a City at 2:2 but its a lifestyle choice (work 14 long days every 28 days v 20 days working mon - fri). Also no expenses while at work.
They pay in the article seems a bit high for entry level but there is good chance to move up from that pay. Also qualified trades would be able to get higher (sparky, diesel mech etc).
Career wise if you have nothing yet (school leaver etc) you have used the time you could be building a career in the mining industry which is no issue if you plan to stay (and there is a job) in the industry. If you do have trade qualifications and decide to go mines financially might beat working for someone in the city but again loose the opportunity in creating your own business etc (then again not all self employed trades are successful).
I think you're missing the fact that he's a low skill worker. He's basically going around putting oils and changing air filters on trucks. $90k a year is pretty sweet for something like that.
shoutout to a mate who was working fifo in the mines and absoloutely making $$$$$$ ..and then got mixed up with hard drugs and had to go rehab and has never been the same.
Why are you giving him a shoutout? Is he now addicted to OzBargain instead? Also, a shoutout is traditionally for a positive thing.
have been doing fifo for about 10 years have always earned between 180k-250k usually a 2/2 roster working 11-12 hour days.
Do an AMA
what do you do? Trade?
High Voltage Testing and Commissioning, can be either new sites or maintance on older sites. Electrical Engineering background, but alot of people just have HV experience and an electrical licence, bit more technical than just being a tradie.
That’s pretty awesome. Just for comparison though, what would your non-FIFO salary be? I.e with your same qualifications/experience how much would you earn in a 9-5 (or comparable hours) local job?
Is FIFO really that lucrative?
You’re going to confuse the accountants.
$3,470 for 84 hours work is $40 an hour. You get to sleep in a shitty donga and it's just work, eat, sleep, repeat.
He might not be paying rent to work there, but most people still need to pay your rent back home (or your home loan) while away. Great for a bit of casual work for a backpacker wanting to get cash or kids living at home, but for a real adult it's not that much money. If you're living alone all your food goes bad, plants die, house smells bad, etc. Or if you have family you don't see them when you're away. I can come home and do whatever I want, he has to eat the food given and deal with the heat.
Salaries aren't what they used to be either. Yes they're great, but it's not like you can work for 5 years and buy a house with the money anymore. The way to make money is to build skills and build up your talent. We have a hell of a time trying to find trades people at the moment because they can early almost as much doing trade work. Regional salaries are going up a lot, a lot of skills are in high demand like chefs as so many quit during covid.
At the same time, the work is getting better. It's less dangerous, there's better equipment, less risk of long term damage. But personally I'd find a job at a mine near a town (although housing prices in nearby towns tend to be skyrocketing).
What are you missing?
Potentially?>Mental health issues, family /relationship stability issues, drinking/gambling/spending problems.
Sleeping issues.
Time in your at home community,family etc , you will never get back.
Food is usually good, accommodation can be claustrophobic
It takes a special person to FIFO. You need a lot of support if you are going in cold.. Much like cops and limited circles, most of your friends will be FIFO going fwd. FIFO can be a young single persons foundation, but you need to be able to communicate your emotional state of mind to others on a regular basis.That's not easy when you are miles and days or weeks away from your trust safety net.
If you have a young family or non FIFO at home, they are basically doing the hard yards with you.
I'm always convinced that articles like this have someone behind them with a vested interest in showing that you're "poor by your own choices, be a FIFO!"
the grass is always greener.
Agreed.
What am I missing here?
A few things:
For a reason a job "in the city" that pays $400K is far more tempting that a job in nowhere-land that pays $400K
It is your life and have only one shot at it.
From what I’ve read fifo shifts, 2:2 or 3:1, or any combination is usually half day shift and half night shift.
Working 2:2 I believe it’s something like 6 days then a 24 hour rest period then 6 nights, or something like that.
Anyone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Man, F that. Worst type of thing you can do to your body, especially doing 12 hour shifts, not even enough time for your body to adjust. May as well be a garbo or a long haul truck driver for pulling those type of hours.
You're not missing anything. Thats the part that people convieniently overlook usually. Same as the attention grabbing headlines about people doing traffic control and making $150,000 a year… extreme hours, antisocial shifts (afternoon, nightshift etc), casual employment and no job security etc. Mining work is terrible for conditions and only decent for the pay. They don't usually get paid on the weeks when they're home either (casual). Sure it seems good on paper, but in reality it doesn't always seem worth it
It's suitable for single blokes, but if you’ve got a missus and kids, yeah nah. Eventually, the missus will just quietly quit the marriage and have an affair because she's sick and tired of the absent husband. Then come and ask for half of your shit.
Ask me how I’ve learned of this.
Ask me how I’ve learned of this.
Ah, the wonders of no-fault divorce. Isn't modernity so amazing?
Eventually, the missus will just quietly quit the marriage and have an affair because she's sick and tired of the absent husband.
The husband whose absent in the first place because without his generous income there wouldn't be a marriage or children?
Totally sound logic.
Then come and ask for half of your shit.
…that she didn't lift a pinky to contribute to?
Again, the logic on display is just indisputable.
Two words: female hypergamy.
The way you're wording it you're making it sound as if you were entirely to blame here and fully deserving of being taken advantage of and betrayed because you were working hard to support your family.
The reality is that this person would have used you and eventually left anyway, she just happened to decide that your FIFO lifestyle was the most convenient pretext for doing so and the way they rationalised their ridiculous, selfish behaviour to themselves.
I could say the same for most FIFO marriages I know of that ended in tears. It had little to do with the FIFO aspect and everything to do with one of the partners being an unmitigated piece of sh*t human being who would have jumped ship and abandoned the other at the first sign of trouble, and this goes for all divorces I've ever personally heard of in my life. Sociopathic narcissists make for fantastic actors and there's a sucker born every minute.
I personally want to do it but I hate the heat.
Where I live the weather makes up for the average $/hr.
Honestly all the other stuff like living in those small doongas is not a big con for me as long as they have internet i will just be on ozb and watching movies anyways.
But yeah I think for my line of work aka cleaning it won't be much difference in pay I think maybe $40/hr vs my normal $30/hr which for the work that fifo cleaners do compared to normal cleaners is not worth it personally.. would be a nice change tho something different but I need to look into something more high paying that is still fairly unskilled as I already know I cannot work with electricity.
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