Yahoo Finance FIFO worker exposes ‘truth’ about $4,800 a week entry-level tradie job: ‘Free money’
The 18-year-old said he receives free food, free rent, free flights and is learning new skills working in the mines.
A FIFO worker has revealed the staggering amount of money he earns working an entry-level job in the mines. With food and rent included in the job, he said he is basically making “free money”.
Rocco Sawka works as a trades assistant in the mines and shared he is earning $4,800 a week in the lucrative job. The 18-year-old’s message for other young people? Get started now.
“The fact is, it’s literally free money. You are making three times the amount of money than you would be if you were working in the city, food’s free, rent’s free, flights are free, you’re making new friends, you’re making new connections, you’re learning new skills,” Sawka shared on TikTok.
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“Honestly if you are young, start. I’m not saying and please don’t do it for the rest of your life and be stuck in here for 30, 40, 50 years.
“But if you are smart, you’ll get in here when you are young, you'll make your money, you’ll invest and you won’t have to worry about money for the rest of your life. If you are young, start FIFO. It will change your life.”
Trade assistants are responsible for supporting other tradies and common tasks can include operating hand and power tools and large machinery, ensuring the worksite is clean, tidy and safe, and cleaning tools and equipment.
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How much can FIFO workers make in a week?
Sawka broke down exactly how much he can earn, working a full week 77-hour week from Monday to Sunday.
From Monday to Friday, he said he earned $46.48 an hour for 11-hour days. That brings the total to $2,556.40 for five days.
On Saturdays, he makes time and a half and is paid $70.47 for an 11-hour day. While on Sunday, he said he makes double time and a half and is paid $117.45 for an 11-hour day.
That brings the total for the week up to $4,623.52, plus he gets an extra $250 for simply working a full week from Monday to Friday. That brings his total for the week to $4,873.52.
“This isn’t some sort of flex or anything like that,” Sawka said.
“I see people out here making 10 times the amount of money than I am but this is just to educate people on what you can be making as a T/A entry-level position in the mines.”
FIFO work ‘has a price’
Plenty of FIFO workers have been sharing their impressive earnings online recently and calling on others to join them, rather than work in an office.
But other FIFO workers have told Yahoo Finance it’s not necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. Tradie Jordan Wilson has spent more than half a decade as a FIFO miner and said while jobs can be lucrative, “everything has a price”.
“It’s long, hard days up here. You’re talking 40-degree days and humidity, then you’ve got to climb on a machine that's been running all day,” Wilson said.
“You’ve got to climb in around engine bays, you're getting burned by things, you're getting stuck in places, you're banging your knee and your arm. It's pretty s**t being covered in oil, covered in grease all day long.”
The 38-year-old works two weeks on and one week off. He said it was tough with his young family back home in Perth and never really getting a routine.
“I’ll be getting out of this industry as soon as I can,” he said.
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