Tradie earning over $150k a year in ‘easiest job’ reveals grim reality: ‘Working to survive’

An Aussie construction worker has revealed he is still “working to survive” despite earning between $2,500 to $3,000 a week after tax. Many used to think earning a six-figure salary meant you were raking it in, but with the cost of living skyrocketing, the once-attractive salary isn’t stretching as far as it used to.

The Brisbane man was stopped on the street and revealed he was earning the lucrative salary working as a concrete patcher, which involves doing repairs on concrete work. He explained that the job involved long hours and he worked more than 50 hours a week.

“Ten and a half hour days, five days a week. If we do a Saturday, which is 6 to 8 hours, I would then take about $3,200 after tax,” he told jobs app Getahead.

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The tradie said the job could be physically demanding but could also be “one of the easiest jobs in construction”.

When asked if he wanted to do the job forever, he said the job was alright for the moment but he wasn’t raking it in.

“I’m working to survive at the moment but I wish I could win the lotto or something. This is alright for the time being,” he said.

In the video’s comments, the worker clarified he was being “humble” with his comment but noted that he was “paying off a family and living expenses”.

His salary of between $2,500 to $3,000 per week, works out to between $130,000 to $156,000 annually after tax.

In the comments, some Aussies questioned how the man was “working to survive” given his good salary.

“3k a week after tax and working to survive? My brain ain’t braining on this one…” one wrote.

Others argued a six-figure salary was no longer enough to feel comfortable given the high cost of living these days.

“10 years ago making 100k meant you were doing OK. Now days 100k is poverty,” one said.

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“100k is no more, 200k min to live,” another added.

“Don’t we all work to survive? He just meant he can’t retire right now like she asked him if he sees himself doing it forever,” a third added.

Six-figure salary not what it once was

The average full-time worker is earning $1,923 per week before tax, the latest Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data found, which works out to about $100,016 per year.

Finder personal finance expert Sarah Megginson told Yahoo Finance many Aussies were struggling to get by as financial pressures like record rents, high interest rates and high everyday costs weighed on living costs. This means the once-desirable income isn’t stretching as far.

“There’s been no area of our day-to-day living costs that have been quarantined from rising prices,” she said.

“No matter where you live, you would have been better off three years ago earning $90,000 than you are today, earning $100,000 because inflation over that time has well outpaced a normal level.

“I definitely think earning $100,000 is not what it was cracked up to be a few years ago.”

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