A trader has claimed he is doing it tough despite earning a staggering $160,000 a year after tax.
The Brisbane concrete patcher made the frank admission after he was stopped on the street by the Getahead job app.
He explained that he earned between $2,500 and $3,000 a week after working 10 and a half hours a day, five days a week.
You can earn an extra $200 by putting in another six to eight hours on Saturdays.
“I’m working to survive right now,” he said.
‘I wish I could win the lottery or something. “This is fine for the moment,” he said.
The concrete patcher is one of countless Australians struggling to keep up with cost of living prices.
Inflation is currently at 2.7 per cent, while the cash rate is at 4.35 per cent – the highest in 12 years – causing mortgage stress for millions of households.
A trader has revealed he is doing it tough despite earning a staggering $160,000 a year after tax.
The tradesman said working as a concrete patcher can sometimes be very physically demanding, but also “one of the easiest jobs in construction.”
During the interview, the trader offered advice for school dropouts to enter the industry.
He suggested that high school graduates should contact the union, use common sense and go to construction sites to “lay probes.”
When asked his number one piece of advice for someone leaving school, the trader responded: “Get rid of your phone at home, don’t use it at work and just put all your energy into work.”
Some social media users were left confused about how a trader who makes $160,000 a year could be struggling.
‘Work to survive? 120,000-150,000 a year after taxes? one wrote.
The tradie suggested that young school leavers who wanted to work in the industry should contact the union, use common sense and go to construction sites and “put probes there”.
3,000 per week after taxes. and work to survive? “My brain isn’t thinking about this,” another added.
“$3,000 a week after taxes is $156,000 a year, that’s a lot of money. I hope he lives below his means so he has plenty left to invest in.”
Others were more sympathetic, arguing that a six-figure salary didn’t go as far as it once did.
’10 years ago, earning 100,000 meant you were doing well. Today 100,000 are poverty,” wrote one.
Another added: “Stay off concrete, it’s bloody torture all the way through.”
High incomes were blamed for rising construction costs in Australia.
‘That’s why construction costs too much in this country. They are kidding each other,’ they wrote.
“That’s like $300,000 before taxes. It is not surprising that healthcare is saturated and that no one is a nurse or doctor anymore.