Apprentice tradie forced to work 85 hours a week as dire pay issue exposed: 'Draining'

Yahoo

a day ago

Thousands of apprentice tradespeople are being forced to take on second jobs or side hustles just to get by, and it's taking a huge toll on their mental health. It's no secret that tradies in training don't earn much money.
However, with the rising cost of living, some are struggling to make ends meet. Aidan Garcia has been loving his mechanic apprenticeship, but the 18-year-old said it's impossible to live off his roughly $600 per week salary.
"It's draining having barely any money," he told Yahoo Finance.
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He has to pay $250 per week in rent, living with his brother, and around $110 per week in fuel.
After also buying food and paying off his phone bill and other expenses, he has virtually nothing left at the end of each pay cycle to spend on hanging with friends, his partner, or even just squirrelling some cash into his savings.
As a result, the second-year trainee has taken on a second job at a My Muscle Chef warehouse, where he does a variety of jobs like cooking food or packing meals into boxes.
When he initially started that side gig, he was working eight-and-a-half-hour days at a mechanic shop starting at 7:30am, and then would do an overnight shift at the warehouse from 10:15pm to 6:15am.
He did that five days a week.On weekends, he picked up odd jobs on Airtasker, like removing rubbish and helping fix people's gearboxes.
At his peak, he was working 85 hours a week. He's since dropped back to just three overnight shifts, but is still doing about 67 hours.
He would try to squeeze in sleep whenever he could, whether that was on his lunch break, during his lessons at TAFE, or the few hours between shifts.
"It does make you second-guess the apprenticeship," he said, adding that he's been close to dropping out several times.
Extra gigs have doubled his income, but at what cost?
Garcia admitted it has been a brutal slog, but the extra jobs have lifted his weekly wage from $600 to $1,400.
It's given him more financial breathing room, but it meant he had next to zero downtime and is still only just getting by.
He's keen to stick with his apprenticeship, as he'll soon be earning much more money. By the time he's fully qualified, his hourly rate is set to go up from the current $16 per hour to at least $28 per hour.
But it still bothers him that he could be earning better money elsewhere.
"My mates are all doing much better than me," he said.
"Some are making good money in the Army and loving it. Another mate told me about a job where he works, and I can make more money there in just three shifts than for a whole week as an apprentice mechanic."
But he's not alone.
"Most of the people I know either had second jobs or would just be scraping the bottom of the barrel," he added.
Research from Apprenticeships Are Us (ARU) has revealed more than 40 per cent of apprentices take on second jobs to help cover rising expenses.
This results in extreme burnout and can cause many to drop out of their apprenticeship altogether.
Low wages contributing to mass apprentice exodus
Australia is in the midst of a trade shortage, and many experts have been sounding the alarm that the housing crisis could become even worse because there aren't enough young people picking up a trade.
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) recently found there has been a 17.4 per cent drop in apprenticeship commencements, and the non-completion rate for apprenticeships sits at 60 per cent.
Dennis Rodgers, apprentice employment manager at ARU, said with many trainees earning between $26,800 and $29,400 per year, it's no wonder some are dropping out.
'These young workers are forced to make tough choices about basic living costs. On top of that, they're expected to invest thousands of dollars into mandatory tools they need just to do their job,' he said.
'We're at real risk of losing the next generation of skilled workers altogether, and of our skills shortage worsening.
"Many young people are simply walking away from apprenticeships because they can't see a viable path forward — financially or mentally.'
Garcia said even the most basic toolkit that's essential for his job can cost from $4,000 up to $10,000. Some of his apprentice mates have taken out loans to get these tools, which has put them in further financial strife.
The government has announced a $10,000 incentive for apprentices, which gets paid out in instalments over the four-year training program.
Garcia said that would be a huge help, but said more needs to be done to help apprentices get paid more and not be forced into working around the clock to survive.