The young Aussie was stopped in the street in Brisbane and shared his $45 an hour salary. (Source: TikTok/@getahead.app)
The Lucrative Reality of Being an Electrician in Australia
A young tradie has candidly opened up about the lucrative salary he is earning after being qualified for less than a year. The best part? He says the in-demand job is something "anyone can do."
The man was stopped in the street in Brisbane by jobs app Getahead, which has gone viral online for asking people pervy details about their job and salary. The man shared he was a qualified electrician and was making $45 an hour.
"Qualified only since February, so pretty fresh," he said.
The Path to Becoming an Electrician
An electrical apprenticeship typically takes four years to complete and involves both on-the-job training and off-the-job training at TAFE or a trade school.
Rates are notably lower during your apprenticeship. According to the Electrical Trades Union, first year apprentices will earn a minimum hourly rate of between $15.67 to $17.18, depending on whether or not they have completed year 12.
That rate then increases to $25.33 an hour by the time you reach your fourth and final year of your apprenticeship, regardless of your high school qualification.
What Electricians Really Earn
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) revealed electricians earn $111,035 per year on average, while apprentice electricians earn $52,385 on average.
The Brisbane sparky said his job currently covered a "little bit of everything" but mostly included commercial work, including high rises, along with civil work.
He shared he was working five days a week from 6.30am to 3.30pm each day. That would make his earnings around $382.50 a day, assuming he takes a 30-minute unpaid meal break.
"There is opportunity for overtime but we only take a little bit here and there, only when you need it," he said.
The Real Challenges and Perks
When asked what the most "challenging" thing about his job was, he said it was "thinking ahead" and making sure he had everything set up and building material in place.
"Anyone can do it. It's a pretty cruisy job as long as you're sticking to your TAFE work and all that stuff, you can do it," he said.
He also has a work car, which he mostly uses for work, and gets tools that he uses as part of the job.
High Demand for Electricians
Electricians are currently in high demand in Australia, with job platform SEEK finding they were among the top 10 most in-demand on its platform at the moment. This was based on job ad volume on its site, with 6,471 ads for electricians in September.
Australia will need 42,000 electricians by 2030 and it's also one of the most in-demand jobs right now.
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