fifo who else does it and what do you do?

[VERYSTORMY]

Are you talking labourers or tradies there VS. I think $100k a year is way on the low side. I know there are some stories about cleaners and the like earning $100k plus, which I know is not the case. I know a couple of girls doing FIFO that started in cleaning and they were only getting about 65K for 2 on 1 off. They have both moved on to better jobs in FIFO now and better money. The cleaning was just a foot in the door.

 

I guess FIFO is good in that respect that if you show a bit of initiative and want to progress you can. There are also a few that use it as a way to get money together for their next travelling experience too.

 

My son thought about changing jobs after a couple of weeks in his. He found out the sparkies in another company where he works are on 160K for a 3 on 1 off. He thought about it for a while and decided he enjoys his time off and work life balance more than extra dollars. That was about a year ago too, so they might be on even more now.

 

The $100k is about the average for an operator - you would be surprised how few tradesmen there are on an operating mine - mainy there when expansions / construction going on. The majority of guys are operators. I dont like to think of them as unskilled / labourers as they have mine specific skills.

 

The $65 for cleaning is actually very good. Most of the sites i have worked on have used ESS (part of compass group) and cleners do a 12 hour split shift which is not nice and ESS average for a cleaner with less than a years experience is $54k. A lot go into it thinking it will lead to something better, but it is actually rare that it does. A lot think it will be a foot in the door to a job in the mine. But in reality, a lot of companies have an agreement of non poaching so cant take them if they wanted to. Staff turn over among them is incredible. It is a hard job and they have to deal with a fair share of unpleasantness. I could tell you some stories of the behavior of some guys on site that would be a shock - such as the team who got drunk on shift change and thought it would be a good idea to literally have a **** fight in the TV room - they crapped on the floor and started throwing it at each other! Sadly, such things are not as uncommon as i would like to see.

 

FIFO does have its place and obviously i have done it for a very long time. But, as DustryRoad points out, there are huge costs to those that do it. I was at a confrence some time ago and one of the themes was looking at FIFO on marriage. As part of it, the guys in the room - about 200 and all long term FIFO guys - were asked how many were on their first marriage. Not one. Those that go into it, need to understand that wht looks like good pay, actually isnt per hour, particularly when you consider that you may be rostered over christmas and there is no extra pay for that, it is demanding physicaly and carries serious risks to your personal life.

[WeegieDave]

FIFO is fine but it all depends on the rotation and your personal situation.

If you have a Mrs with no kids who will be sat in Perth she would likely get quite lonely and as a result all kinds of things may happen as a result and you may find yourself single or going home.

usually takes a few months but inevitable will happen.

 

Contrary to the above posts most rotations are approx 26 days on and 9 days off give or take a few days which is not good.

If you work for an operator/owner then the rotation is better and an 8/6 may be on offer, this will tire you out but I would say very liveable. The money offered for FIFO work these days seems to be less than what you get in central Perth though so I cant really see much of a point to it.

 

If you thinking of FIFO why not do it from the UK? much easier on those left behind.

One more point is that if your partner works when you are home she is likely to be at work and over here where you wont know anyone, it will be equally as rubbish as your time away (almost).

 

So I would think carefully what your coming out here for and if its for the work I wouldn't bother as that is heading southwards and Europe and the rest of the world is on the rise.

 

 

Are you suggesting that he does FIFO from the UK to Aus?? Lol.. You would really need to be something special for a company to even consider that and if it was to ever happen the swings would be very long. In a word, it ain't going to happen! Plenty of people champing at the bit to do the work here in Aus..

 

As for the rest of Europe and the world on the rise.. Are you serious? Have you checked out the unemployment figures throughout Europe, especially in younger people. They are shocking!!

[jen85]

Been in perth just over 5 weeks now only just started maybe applying looking for work,an agency tried to set me up with work that i do in part of my multi skills etc.

It was fifo but lets just say i did not like what wasvon offer it was like 4 weeks away and 6 days,have just arrived from uk and having a wife and 11 month old i did not feel it was the job for me.

I am used to 2 and 2 back in uk ok i knowvim not in uk anymore but i really did not come over otherside of world to not enjoy what perth has to offer,and see my girl grow up.

Part of me wanted to take the job as its work and gets my feet in the door,but i feel thats more a single mans game,yes be ok maybe when i been here longer etc but 6 days home come on surely there not much family guys out there that does this.

I even have applied for fifo with another company and thats 21 days and 9 home ok not ideal but better.

Do much of you do fifo if so whats your time off like,what do you do.as much as i want a job etc i might just pass as its just not enough family time.

 

I think you'll find as a "newby" you will get the crappy rosters to start with, it takes awhile to get to 2 and 1 or 2 and 2 from what I heard and seen. These are obviously highly desirable rosters and generally go to long serving employees..or so I have seen. FIFO is a hard role to do especially with a young family, if you have come here to have quality time you may find yourself working harder and not being around to help your partner may be too difficult.

[fourcorners]

My OH used to do FIFO from Cornwall to Karratha. 6 weeks on 3 weeks off. We did it for 10 months before saying enough of that and actually moved down here. He now works for someone else and has tripled his salary (he was on UK wages when doing the FIFO roster as it was a UK company). His travel was on his own time and that combined with jet-lag meant in reality he had 2 good weeks off.

 

I actually had a chat with my boss about wages recently. Interestingly for skilled people residential wages are now higher than FIFO wages. So instead of trying to decide which FIFO roster you'd like to be on, why not consider moving somewhere where you could live residentially? Home every night, decent wages, no missing one another or missing out on family time.

[WeegieDave]

My OH used to do FIFO from Cornwall to Karratha. 6 weeks on 3 weeks off. We did it for 10 months before saying enough of that and actually moved down here. He now works for someone else and has tripled his salary (he was on UK wages when doing the FIFO roster as it was a UK company). His travel was on his own time and that combined with jet-lag meant in reality he had 2 good weeks off.

 

I actually had a chat with my boss about wages recently. Interestingly for skilled people residential wages are now higher than FIFO wages. So instead of trying to decide which FIFO roster you'd like to be on, why not consider moving somewhere where you could live residentially? Home every night, decent wages, no missing one another or missing out on family time.

 

Yeah, back in the height of the mining boom when there was a large shortage of skilled staff then FIFO from UK to Aus would have been an option to some skilled and experienced people but companies can easily fill the positions in Aus now without having to fly people in from the UK. It's a different ball game now with the downturn.

 

Even O&G companies in WA are finding it a lot easier to find staff locally as opposed to going overseas an flying people in from the UK etc.

[CML1410]

Hi All, at the risk of showing my ignorance what does 'fifo' stand for? I gather from the messages that it is working a period of time on and then getting a period of time off and those periods seem to differ per joba nd company, but is it in one industry only? Is it just in WA or does this kind of work occur all across OZ? The reason I am asking is we are trying to emigrate to Oz -- I am a HR professional and my OH is a builder / plumber but with no qualifications. WE are trying to decide which state to go with for sponsorship and it mght take me a while to get some work and for my OH to be able to work the 'fifo' option, whatever it stands for, would help us get established and get some money coming in. At the moment our options of SS are WA, SA and ACT do they all do FIFO options?? Sorry to be showing my ignorance ...but I am very keen to learn as much about fifo as I really want my OH to get stuck in and feel like he is contributing to the family (he has spent the last 2 years at home looking after the LO's whilst I have gone out to work and it has really done his head in being a stay at home dad -- he is mush better suited to getting out there and earning money, whatever that looks like!!) Also do you need to have qualifications to do this kind of work or are they happy to employ general labourer types??

 

Thanks everyone for any information on this.

[Ronan20]

FIFO = Fly in - Fly out

DIDO = Drive in - Drive out

[CML1410]

FIFO = Fly in - Fly out

DIDO = Drive in - Drive out

 

Thanks Ronan20 at least I know what it means now! Is it just in WA? Thanks :biggrin:

[WeegieDave]

Hi All, at the risk of showing my ignorance what does 'fifo' stand for? I gather from the messages that it is working a period of time on and then getting a period of time off and those periods seem to differ per joba nd company, but is it in one industry only? Is it just in WA or does this kind of work occur all across OZ? The reason I am asking is we are trying to emigrate to Oz -- I am a HR professional and my OH is a builder / plumber but with no qualifications. WE are trying to decide which state to go with for sponsorship and it mght take me a while to get some work and for my OH to be able to work the 'fifo' option, whatever it stands for, would help us get established and get some money coming in. At the moment our options of SS are WA, SA and ACT do they all do FIFO options?? Sorry to be showing my ignorance ...but I am very keen to learn as much about fifo as I really want my OH to get stuck in and feel like he is contributing to the family (he has spent the last 2 years at home looking after the LO's whilst I have gone out to work and it has really done his head in being a stay at home dad -- he is mush better suited to getting out there and earning money, whatever that looks like!!) Also do you need to have qualifications to do this kind of work or are they happy to employ general labourer types??

 

Thanks everyone for any information on this.

 

FIFO simply stands for 'Fly in - Fly Out'. This happens as many work locations mainly in the mining industry are very remote and thousands of Kilometeres from the nearest city so staff are flown in to the work location and work a roster, or swing as they call it on the mine sites which can vary depending on who you are working for and what you are doing. You could be working 8 days on and 6 days off or 2 weeks on 1 week off or 4 weeks on 1 week off.. etc etc.

The mining industry is difficult to get into and becoming increasingly more difficult as it has hit a bit of a slowdown. If companies are hiring anyone at the moment they will seek staff with mining experience.

[CML1410]

FIFO simply stands for 'Fly in - Fly Out'. This happens as many work locations mainly in the mining industry are very remote and thousands of Kilometeres from the nearest city so staff are flown in to the work location and work a roster, or swing as they call it on the mine sites which can vary depending on who you are working for and what you are doing. You could be working 8 days on and 6 days off or 2 weeks on 1 week off or 4 weeks on 1 week off.. etc etc.

The mining industry is difficult to get into and becoming increasingly more difficult as it has hit a bit of a slowdown. If companies are hiring anyone at the moment they will seek staff with mining experience.

 

Thanks :biggrin: is it more a WA thing then or does this kind of work happen on the East Coast?

[Ronan20]

Thanks :biggrin: is it more a WA thing then or does this kind of work happen on the East Coast?

 

It can happen anywhere. There are plenty of jobs avertisied as FIFO from Brisbane

[CML1410]

It can happen anywhere. There are plenty of jobs avertisied as FIFO from Brisbane

 

Great we are hoping to be based on the East Coast somewhere so hopefully OH will have option of this kind of work thanks :biggrin:

[Paul1Perth]

My OH used to do FIFO from Cornwall to Karratha. 6 weeks on 3 weeks off. We did it for 10 months before saying enough of that and actually moved down here. He now works for someone else and has tripled his salary (he was on UK wages when doing the FIFO roster as it was a UK company). His travel was on his own time and that combined with jet-lag meant in reality he had 2 good weeks off.

 

I actually had a chat with my boss about wages recently. Interestingly for skilled people residential wages are now higher than FIFO wages. So instead of trying to decide which FIFO roster you'd like to be on, why not consider moving somewhere where you could live residentially? Home every night, decent wages, no missing one another or missing out on family time.

 

Choice between FIFO'ing to Kal or living there, I would FIFO every time.

[WeegieDave]

Choice between FIFO'ing to Kal or living there, I would FIFO every time.

 

As i'll be doing as from next week

[fourcorners]

Choice between FIFO'ing to Kal or living there, I would FIFO every time.

 

 

As I've said many times on here though Paul, we have done many years of FIFO in other parts of the world and came here so we could work residentially. Unless you've done proper FIFO, you can't possibly know what it is like. It's different for your son, he is younger than we are and it sounds like he's not in a settled relationship. When you actually want to spend time with the person you love, FIFO sucks!

[Incata]

My husband is not FIFO but goes to sea for up to 6 weeks at a time. It was really hard the first time he did it, as we had just moved here, had no family support and two youngsters. Fortunately he does not go away that often but I have hell with the kids when he does as they miss him so much. We have poor behaviour, tears every bed time and upset every time the phone rings and it isn't him/ I'd be cautious about FIFO with an 11 month old as it could upset him/her greatly.

[Jessica Berry]

A recruitment consultant in Adelaide said to me if you want to end your relationship take a fifo job!!!!!

[AJ]

 

A recruitment consultant in Adelaide said to me if you want to end your relationship take a fifo job!!!!!

What a load of crap!

[Jessica Berry]

What a load of crap!

 

She must have heard a few stories, perhaps just all the bad ones. I am sure there are people that it works for.

[Incata]

Anyone that says that FIFO/being away is bad for a relationship doesn't have a clue, it is very dependant on the family. Like incats husband my job involves being away at sea usually in the offshore sector, I've done all sorts of contracts, but the 6weeks away/home is absolutely fine with my wife and kids, my wife is strong and appreciates all the quality time we have at home.

 

As I said earlier, for some families it doesn't work, but for others it's a great lifestyle.

 

Agree. When my husband was in the RN I was used to him being away and it was fine as I was independent and had a good job to keep me occupied. With young children (aged 4 and 2) and no support network it is a different matter. Last time he was away I got very sick and without that support it was very difficult to cope. When the kids are older I think it will be easier as they will understand more about why their dad is away and what he is doing. In the meanwhile my husband took a GPS locator with him and we liked being able to log on every night and see where he was. When there was an emergency on board ship and they were heading back to Port, we knew before any of the other families because we had the tracker (which updated his location every 10 minutes) and could see that they had broken off and were heading back to port. The kids (particularly the eldest) enjoyed following it and seeing how far away he was from home.

 

I'd like it if he was on a FIFO salary though!

[Jessica Berry]

What a load of crap!

 

 

Did you read this quote that VERYSTORMY posted? Perhaps the recuitment consultant is not talking a load of crap after all!!!!!

 

I was at a confrence some time ago and one of the themes was looking at FIFO on marriage. As part of it, the guys in the room - about 200 and all long term FIFO guys - were asked how many were on their first marriage. Not one.

 

[Jessica Berry]

I worked on a large scale infrastructure project in Adelaide and we had a couple of fifo guys that flew in from the UK. One of the guys used to chat to this lady at smoko, that developed into going for lunch together, then it developed into an affair. When he finished on the project he returned to the UK, the affair ended and his wife had no idea and probably to this day still has no idea.

I know of another lady that worked on a fifo site and she was spoken to ‘for being too friendly with the guys on site’! I can tell you the ‘chat’ made no difference!

A pom I know of who had been here about a year had been doing fifo and confided in me that when he returned home he felt in the way. He had a wife and baby and as a family they really struggled and eventually returned to the UK.

Someone else we know they had been doing fifo for years. The husband then stopped doing it and further down the track they divorced. They had simply spent so much time apart that when their routine changed and they had to spend time with each other, they realised they actually didn’t like spending time with each other!

A colleague’s relative does fifo in oil and gas and lives in Australia but goes out to Africa. She tells us stories of how the husband is on so much money and probably to the outside world they appear to have a good life in terms of materialistic things. However every time the dad is away the kids have major behavioural issues.

I think it would be naïve to think that fifo works for everyone. People tend to only want to hear the stories about how much money they are going to earn. There are two sides to every story. Bottom line is that we are all different and what works for one person/family may not work for another.

[AJ]

Ok it may not work for some.that is 3 examples. There are hundreds of fifo workers on just one site. To say most fifo relationships end is a total exaggeration!

Edited July 19, 2013 by AJ

[AJ]

Did you read this quote that VERYSTORMY posted? Perhaps the recuitment consultant is not talking a load of crap after all!!!!!

 

I was at a confrence some time ago and one of the themes was looking at FIFO on marriage. As part of it, the guys in the room - about 200 and all long term FIFO guys - were asked how many were on their first marriage. Not one.

 

so just because vs says that it's true?

[Guest Guest16631]

......as I said before......my father and OH work FIFO......

......and I know of many family's.........

.......my OH is 50.......

......and my father worked FIFo for over 30 years......

......there has been some that didn't stick it..........but many that did.....

.......we enjoy the 24 hours a day of the time off.......

.......my children have had no problems......

........and I often had no family near to help out......

.......it's made me stronger as a person......very self reliant.....

.......it's a good life ......it's adapting and making it work......

........people can have affairs where ever they work......late night at the office....?

.........a marriage is about trust IMO and ime.....

........and family life is all about quality time........just my thoughts......tink x