Honestly this is the most bubble thing ever. It takes, what, 2 years to learn a trade to the entry level? With essentially no barrier to entry, right?

Prepare for the massive influx of people into the trades driving prices back to $60k/yr for backbreaking labor.

That's not happening. Business's are struggling to get tradesman, because not many of them are taking on apprentices. They want 5 years experience or no job.

So is that like 40k USD?

Edit. It's about 150k USD. Almost UPS union pay. Nice

The economy has fundamentally changed but people haven’t updated their ideas about trades

1) boomers see trades as being less prestigious so push their kids into university

2) boomers in Australia got free uni. Now a useful degree is $100’s of thousands, but the debt doesn’t factor into people’s thinking. Nor the time out of the workforce while studying.

3) the highest tax rate (49%) used to capture maybe the top 2% of earners. Now it’s 30% or more. So it’s not how much you earn but how much you keep.

4) even if the tradie and white collar worker are on the SAME pay, the tradie is hundreds of thousands of dollars better off due to how our tax system works

5) a three year degree used to be enough to get a good job. Now it’s 5 years plus post grad plus professional year, so at least 7 years. Tradies do a 3 year aprenticeship starting as young as 16

6) houses did not used to be a way to generate such massive wealth. Now that a house is worth multiples of a yearly salary, AND they changed the tax laws to exempt them from tax, tradies who have a builders license can make millions for free.

7) tradies including builders used to make a pretty crappy wage. Now with the labour shortages they write their own cheques.

Two other factors:

8) if you are a trade or consultant that has an ounce of customer service skill you are set. Most trades will issue a quote and say “that’s it, don’t like it **** off”. If you take 5 minutes to explain why it costs that, what are the options/risks etc your clients love you and you are like gold. I have consultants and trades like this and I never look elsewhere.

9) all the successful tradies I know have a mentor in the game, who has put them onto a good accountant and got in their ear about starting a business, investing etc. this doesn’t happen in white collar fields. Some that didn’t have a mentor piss their money away on holidays and gambling and drugs etc

…for an entry-level worker.

That’s the starting point. Not the end point.

Cool. Let me know when the union and the management there make that union contract with those starting wages official rather than still being in the beginning bargaining phases

Uh, they’re not taking in apprentices because there are no kids going into the apprenticeships

It’s essentially 3 years of heavily subsidised labour for them, and in some cases like builders the Master Builders Association pays for them (out of union dues admittedly, but it’s zero cost to the actual builder)

No worries.
In the interim just note that all the fully qualified trades I deal with are on $200k+ and turning away work.

We've already established that Aussie money is not the same as U.S. money. $200k there is about $130k in the U.S., so a pretty big difference. I'm also assuming you're talking about people who work in major cities like Sydney. $130k USD ain't that great in major U.S. cities these days, either.

Not even chitting on trades. They do really well for themselves. But you're making it seem a bit more glorious than it actually is.

We've already established that Aussie money is not the same as U.S. money. $200k there is about $130k in the U.S., so a pretty big difference. I'm also assuming you're talking about people who work in major cities like Sydney. $130k USD ain't that great in major U.S. cities these days, either.

Not even chitting on trades. They do really well for themselves. But you're making it seem a bit more glorious than it actually is.

Lucky they're not spending their AUD in the US then I guess?

Please define this 240k entry level "tradie"

I think we are way past apprentice electrician/plumber now.

LOL that's because all you useless ****s can't even get a toilet to stop leaking.


As a union tradesmen I'm making so much money right now because people don't have any skills anymore. Can't do electric, plumbing, even paint a wall.


Yeah bro, I'll do it for you. Give me 500 dollars to come out and we'll go from there. Also show me your wife, I need to borrow her.

The economy has fundamentally changed but people haven’t updated their ideas about trades

1) boomers see trades as being less prestigious so push their kids into university

2) boomers in Australia got free uni. Now a useful degree is $100’s of thousands, but the debt doesn’t factor into people’s thinking. Nor the time out of the workforce while studying.

3) the highest tax rate (49%) used to capture maybe the top 2% of earners. Now it’s 30% or more. So it’s not how much you earn but how much you keep.

4) even if the tradie and white collar worker are on the SAME pay, the tradie is hundreds of thousands of dollars better off due to how our tax system works

5) a three year degree used to be enough to get a good job. Now it’s 5 years plus post grad plus professional year, so at least 7 years. Tradies do a 3 year aprenticeship starting as young as 16

6) houses did not used to be a way to generate such massive wealth. Now that a house is worth multiples of a yearly salary, AND they changed the tax laws to exempt them from tax, tradies who have a builders license can make millions for free.

7) tradies including builders used to make a pretty crappy wage. Now with the labour shortages they write their own cheques.

Two other factors:

8) if you are a trade or consultant that has an ounce of customer service skill you are set. Most trades will issue a quote and say “that’s it, don’t like it **** off”. If you take 5 minutes to explain why it costs that, what are the options/risks etc your clients love you and you are like gold. I have consultants and trades like this and I never look elsewhere.

9) all the successful tradies I know have a mentor in the game, who has put them onto a good accountant and got in their ear about starting a business, investing etc. this doesn’t happen in white collar fields. Some that didn’t have a mentor piss their money away on holidays and gambling and drugs etc

As noted in the article entry level means no experience.

The agreement includes traffic controllers and cleaners lol. Are they even trades? Hilarious.

Remember: United you bargain. Divided, you beg.

bUt mUh cOmMuNiSm!!!1!1!

How many times do I need to explain to you that a union's initial proposal to the management of the company they work for is not the same thing as the final result? Wait until it actually goes through before you start celebrating on behalf of tradies. That's all I'm trying to say.

How many times do I have to explain to you that it’s only a $15k rise relative to what they’re already on

Keeping coping soyo

If it's so great, then why haven't you made a move to do it and join a trade yourself? And who are you, an admitted officecel, to call others soys? lol

Because you can’t become an apprentice beyond a certain age. I know this because I asked lol.

Also my office is in my house and most of my money is from property development, (which is why I deal with so many trades) not my job income.

As noted in the article entry level means no experience.

The agreement includes traffic controllers and cleaners lol. Are they even trades? Hilarious.

Honestly this is the most bubble thing ever. It takes, what, 2 years to learn a trade to the entry level? With essentially no barrier to entry, right?

Prepare for the massive influx of people into the trades driving prices back to $60k/yr for backbreaking labor.

It doesn't work that way. If there's to many people in the trade the apprenticeship school will stop taking new students. The unions won't allow there to be a massive surplus of labor.

The shortage of apprentices is so bad the main unions had a conference with the Federal Government for a week - including the Prime Minister - to try and figure out how to get more apprentices

I think their solution ended up being to get more women into trades lmao

Edit: they also made it free to do the technical college (TAFE, for ausbrahs) for in-demand trades. It was already basically free but anyway.

Sounds like something Bodhy could get into to better his situation.

They would help with his hygiene issues, his "autism", his current BMI and in general put some hair on his chest.

He could start contributing to society finally.

But who am I kidding, he wouldn't last 30 minutes with tradies.

Why are you always mean? say something nice about the guy

Why are you always mean? say something nice about the guy

The union is a joke. Its funny how you NEVER see this in corporate.