Young traders have opened up about the dark reality of their industry and admit it involves long hours and relentless work.
Jobs app Getahead stopped several traders on the streets of the Gold Coast and asked them how much they earn and what their average day is like.
A 17-year-old concrete mixer revealed that he earned “$30 an hour.”
He said he’s only been working for a year and that “some parts are easy and some parts are hard.”
The young merchant said that sometimes he starts work at 5 in the morning and works until 4 in the afternoon.
A young electrician who works in the mines said she works 12 and a half hours a day on a seven-day, seven-day off schedule.
The young woman revealed that she earns $165,000 a year.
He said that working in mining is “in a way like golden handcuffs, like when you feel attracted to that money.”
The young shopkeeper said he sometimes starts work at 5 a.m. and works until 4 p.m.
He admitted that it was difficult at first to work in the mines when he was 17 years old.
The woman said she was the only woman when she started, but now there are more women working in the mines.
“You learn a lot, especially being so young and vulnerable,” she said.
Another woman explained what it’s like to work in a male-dominated industry.
The first-year electrician apprentice said the biggest challenge in her job is “getting big enough to be heard.”
He said that, depending on overtime, he works about ten hours a day and earns about $2,000 a week.
“There’s not too much responsibility on me right now, obviously being a first year,” he said.
He admitted that the workload will increase when classes start.
One apprentice carpenter working in his first year said he only earns about $600 a week, which is below Australia’s minimum wage of $915.90 a week.
The young electrician admitted that at first it was difficult to work in the mines when she was 17 years old, but now there are more women.
‘It’s not the best. “Living alone and everything, it’s hard to live off what I make, but I’m dealing with what I have,” he said.
“My dad gave me a job outside of school and then I thought I wanted to go in the direction of being a chippy, so that’s what I did.”
A third-year carpenter’s apprentice said he had to spend $4,000 buying tools and earns $900 a week, spending 12 hours a day under the scorching Australian sun.
Even working in those conditions, he added that the job is easier than he expected.