Thread: Are people really finding it hard to get work?

Originally Posted by austastar

Hi,
Ok, I've been retired 10 years, BUT never made anything like $60k.
Cheers

Ditto! No perks, either. Did get paid to work around the wide, brown land in my younger days though, seeing places that 'Norm Normal' wouldn't get to.
Can't put a value on that!

$60k plus accomodation, food and transport to work (none needed) must be worth at least $90k in a city
Plus the added life experience
Doesn’t sound bad to me

Originally Posted by Tote

The $60K in the OP's story is actually a pretty good salary once all the benefits are rolled in and the cost of living is accounted for. My FIL is a manager on a large western NSW holding and the value of the extras that he recieves on top of his salary is at least $20K. The only downside is that super contributions suffer as FBT doesnt apply in a lot of circumstances.

Regards,
Tote

We pay super on top of the salary. For some reason we don't include it in the quoted figure we give the applicants.
FBT is just a part of doing business to us.
After 12 months, dependent on performance, we have an allowance for a bonus scheme.
The one for the Assistant is a bit convoluted & has a variable % but may become available at my discretion. I have never given it to an assistant manager yet.
Jonesfam

Originally Posted by gavinwibrow

Yeah, Dave, but he doesn't have any big cranes for you to play with, only a Disco and other toys!

dont care, ive done fill in work as a greaser at roadhouses a couple of times and had a ball.

when you factor in the tax break for remote areas (and even before that), no accomodation bills, bugger all travel, cheap insurance for remote areas, That 60K packet makes it worth more than I make now.

my rent is 18K a year, the insurance break there saves me another K (car, bike arkie and trailer combined) the bike is about $1500 in fuel a year, the disco more, arkie more again. In a remote community like that, for a servo that likely serves fries, Free fuel for the 2 landies for when I make a trip out its hotter too so no need to worry excessively bout preheat and dewax.

and in a remote area like that, when word gets out theres a diesel mech who's willing to moonlight for beer tickets...

This problem of most people wanting to cling to the coast is not new.
Look how country kids rush to the cities after leaving school.
FIFO workers leave their families behind in the cities, with schools, unis and jobs, rather than moving them to near their work sites.
Country towns can't get doctors to head for the bush, often because their partners don't want to go.
Farmers can't get workers to harvest their crops.
We're an urban nation. The opportunities are in the cities. Poverty, health problems and suicides are higher in the bush.
Sad but true.

Keep your cities. I won’t be going back. Although I do live in a major rural centre.

People can Urbanise all they want, the stress levels involved in those shallow lifestyles is unfathomable.

At my current point in time though, $60k wouldn’t peak my
Interest, even with the additional perks.

A few years ago when we had our business we would have people come to the office asking for work as they handed over the form to sign to say that they had applied for a job with us even before we could say sorry we are not hiring at the moment. We would offer to put them on our list if any jobs came available & give them contact details form to fill out , most would not return the form.

Two industries that will always have trouble finding and keeping good staff are tourism & hospitality, and primary production. Both pay poor wages barely if at all above the minimum wage, and casual or seasonal work when workers generally seek permanent full time work. Harvest work is shunned by local unemployed because of the low returns and the fact that local workers know well the local cockies and won't work for many of them as they have the reputation of being slave driving skinflints. Why young people leave country towns is self-evident. What work other than basic jobs is available in most country towns? Bar maid, house maid, waitress for the girls, and stock work and labouring for the boys.