fifo who else does it and what do you do?

[Jessica Berry]

so just because vs says that it's true?

 

VS is giving an example, just like I am. We are both drawing on our own experiences/information and sharing them with the forum.

[Paul1Perth]

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!

 

My Cousins husband in the UK has always worked FIFO and away for long periods. It's his second marriage and he has 2 kids from his first one. He works as a rig manager on one of the biggest floating rigs in the world. Serious money, on a whim he bought my cousin a mercedes convertible when he was home, she didn't like it as she thinks it's too big and it just sits in the garage.

 

They have a house in France which they use to catch up in. She flies over and meets him there quite often. Something to do with paying less tax if he doesn't go back to the UK all the time.

 

He was working over here a couple of years ago and we arranged for him to come up for Sunday dinner. He was staying in Perth. He rang us about 12:00 and said he was just leaving the office, I said something about working Sunday which he didn't really respond to. Got up to our place and he looked like he had just stepped off the rig. Khaki trousers and shirt on, 2 mobiles on his belt, which he had to respond to a few times. I asked him again about working Sunday and he looked a bit puzzled and said he worked every day, it was just how the job was. We went to the pub and our eldest came with us to meet some mates at the beach. He was chatting away and interested in the job.

 

When we got in the pub he said you seem to get on well with your lad. I had never really thought about it, just normal I thought. He then said his 2, who he had with my cousin and are boys, about 18 and 20 at the time, only spoke to him when they wanted money. Even when he was at home they didn't speak that much and didn't have much in common. He said my boy had asked him more about work in 30 minutes than his 2 had asked all his life.

 

Sort of brought it home that lots of money and what others might see as a good job comes with a lot of baggage. He's done well for himself as he left school with no qauls and was just a fisherman for a while. He cleared off to Aberdeen and lied about his age to get on the rigs as a roughneck and progressed from there.

 

He's about 5 years younger than me, way overweight and doesn't have time to do any exercise at all, so he said. He lives off the VIP club food of whatever hotel they put him in and obviously the food on the rig.

 

Don't think I would swap with him. :nah:

[Paul1Perth]

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.

 

Only human nature I'm afraid. You don't have to be working FIFO to be having affairs. It makes it seem not as bad I guess when the affair ends and the participants just return to their life after. Whos' to say his missus wasn't having an affair whilst he was away all that time? As long as they don't feel the need to come clean and no-one finds out, no harm done.

 

I've worked in a few office environments where affairs have been going on. Mostly everyone knows and the people having the affairs think no-one knows. Sometimes it ends badly, couples split up, sometimes it just peters out or someone moves to another job. Not only happening in FIFO jobs.

 

I used to work on pipeline testing in the UK where we were away all the time. I worked with a married guy who would act like he was single the whole time we were away. Any chance he got to get his leg over he would. He had a couple of kids and had no intention of leaving his wife or anything.

 

Not saying it's right, I had a girlfriend at the time and didn't do the things he did.

[Jessica Berry]

An Aussie friend was telling me this week her son works at Roxby (SA) and lives there. The employer keeps changing the goal posts and adding more and more extras into what they are required to do. They also know because there are plenty of people looking for work they are now offering much lower wages. They have altered the on call roster which means he only has 1 weekend in 3 when he is not on call and can actually leave Roxby. He has had enough of it and is now moving from Roxby to another position standard hours Monday to Friday and when he has finished his training, he will be on the same wage as Roxby.

[Guest]

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!!

 

 

Debatable I guess depending on what industry your in but engineering and construction and skilled trades its going mad in the states and Europe, rates are great so I don't know what your on about? I'm not talking a sparkie or brickie who works on houses I'm talking heavy Industry engineers etc.. Plenty of people having been sold the dream of Oz yes but in reality not that many decent jobs here compared to the amount that are chasing them.

 

Just look on Oil and gas job sites and see the vacancies all over except in Australia when there used to be loads here, the ones that are here are now paying half of what they used to.

 

Employment figures are rubbish as you have half of the UK using a recession as an excuse, loads over 50's claim sickness or dole but in reality they just cant be bothered any more, they see it as if they paid in then why not get something out, I don't blame them....basically extending retirement from 55 so its useless to keep raising the age. fair play to them as they paid into it not immigrants claiming housing etc...

 

Employment figures for actual skilled jobs arent that bad in Europe, its the people without skills who are hit and the same is happening in Australia but the skilled are also hit here due to the market being generally smaller.

 

As for commuting from Australia to the UK, I have known a few to do it a few years ago during boom time 2006-20010 and they worked 28/28 on mine construction so it was fine.

I know loads of ex pat British people working in the back end of Asia who commute from the UK and they all love it and earn far more than here in Australia. I'm amazed at how little some of the people commenting know.

 

A $100K before tax for a FIFO is rubbish, graduates here get about $60K. I'm saying this as most of Poms in Oz are skilled and how you got your visa's in the first place so realistically we should all be earning decent wages way above the $100K mark, if not I really cant see the point in living here due to the cost of living.

 

I do honestly think so many Poms in Australia after moving here live in a dream world to justify their decision to come here and just slag off the UK, I like it in Oz as much as anyone but I also am just telling you the real situation in Europe. The market place for employment is so much bigger in Europe and its all connected thus providing opportunity all over, here it is very small and becoming smaller. It was always inevitable once all these facilities were built that they wouldn't need people any more so it inst a shock to those with half a brain.

[Guest]

Kal has a knocking shop so you will be entertained :biggrin:

 

 

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

[Paul1Perth]

Debatable I guess depending on what industry your in but engineering and construction and skilled trades its going mad in the states and Europe, rates are great so I don't know what your on about? I'm not talking a sparkie or brickie who works on houses I'm talking heavy Industry engineers etc.. Plenty of people having been sold the dream of Oz yes but in reality not that many decent jobs here compared to the amount that are chasing them.

 

Just look on Oil and gas job sites and see the vacancies all over except in Australia when there used to be loads here, the ones that are here are now paying half of what they used to.

 

Employment figures are rubbish as you have half of the UK using a recession as an excuse, loads over 50's claim sickness or dole but in reality they just cant be bothered any more, they see it as if they paid in then why not get something out, I don't blame them....basically extending retirement from 55 so its useless to keep raising the age. fair play to them as they paid into it not immigrants claiming housing etc...

 

Employment figures for actual skilled jobs arent that bad in Europe, its the people without skills who are hit and the same is happening in Australia but the skilled are also hit here due to the market being generally smaller.

 

As for commuting from Australia to the UK, I have known a few to do it a few years ago during boom time 2006-20010 and they worked 28/28 on mine construction so it was fine.

I know loads of ex pat British people working in the back end of Asia who commute from the UK and they all love it and earn far more than here in Australia. I'm amazed at how little some of the people commenting know.

 

A $100K before tax for a FIFO is rubbish, graduates here get about $60K. I'm saying this as most of Poms in Oz are skilled and how you got your visa's in the first place so realistically we should all be earning decent wages way above the $100K mark, if not I really cant see the point in living here due to the cost of living.

 

I do honestly think so many Poms in Australia after moving here live in a dream world to justify their decision to come here and just slag off the UK, I like it in Oz as much as anyone but I also am just telling you the real situation in Europe. The market place for employment is so much bigger in Europe and its all connected thus providing opportunity all over, here it is very small and becoming smaller. It was always inevitable once all these facilities were built that they wouldn't need people any more so it inst a shock to those with half a brain.

 

I think you are over estimating how many are

I'm saying this as most of Poms in Oz are skilled and how you got your visa's in the first place so realistically we should all be earning decent wages way above the $100K mark, if not I really cant see the point in living here due to the cost of living.

 

I think you are right in saying that most are skilled or well qualified. I have an apprenticeship, a degree and several years experience in a number of jobs. I earn decent money I think, but it's not "way above the $100k mark. My missus is a part time nurse. Used to be full time and work shift work for a few years but even though she's SRN qualified, also a midwife and health visitor, even at her peak earning powers she wouldn't have been close to $100k. We have a couple of kids who have gone through school now.

 

We get on just fine btw. Still have a mortgage but not a massive one, never really been in a rush to pay it off, it will happen soon. Don't have investment properties or anything, decent house in a suburb we love and are plenty able to save for something if we want. We go out for meals, for drinks if we want, don't feel that we miss out on anything we want to do.

 

Not everyone is here dreaming they are going to make mega bucks, some are just happy to get by like they did in the UK but with a totally different lifestyle that we just couldn't have back there.:cool:

 

I'll agree that the $100k before tax for FIFO is not that good but I think you'll find that not many doing FIFO will be on that sort of money, depending what their swing is. It's still good money for an 8 on 6 off, basically your getting half a year off and can have some quality time at home.

 

My son earns more than me doing FIFO 8 x 6 swing, he's a sparkie, quite likes the job and he can save up very quickly for things if he wants.

 

Maybe if I could have moved to the South of France or the Algarve and got a job we would have been able to have the same sort of lifestyle, most other places forget it. We would have had language problems, qualification problems and all the rest of going somewhere where the main language is not English.

 

Why do you think people have to justify their decision? Most I know say it's the best decision they ever made coming here. A lot of us don't slag off the UK. I enjoyed growing up where I did but I couldn't compare it to here, no matter how much money I was on.:cool:

[Jessica Berry]

I think you are over estimating how many are

 

 

I think you are right in saying that most are skilled or well qualified. I have an apprenticeship, a degree and several years experience in a number of jobs. I earn decent money I think, but it's not "way above the $100k mark. My missus is a part time nurse. Used to be full time and work shift work for a few years but even though she's SRN qualified, also a midwife and health visitor, even at her peak earning powers she wouldn't have been close to $100k. We have a couple of kids who have gone through school now.

 

We get on just fine btw. Still have a mortgage but not a massive one, never really been in a rush to pay it off, it will happen soon. Don't have investment properties or anything, decent house in a suburb we love and are plenty able to save for something if we want. We go out for meals, for drinks if we want, don't feel that we miss out on anything we want to do.

 

Not everyone is here dreaming they are going to make mega bucks, some are just happy to get by like they did in the UK but with a totally different lifestyle that we just couldn't have back there.:cool:

 

 

I agree. I think a word of caution is required for people in the UK reading this thinking that everyone that comes over earns mega money. Of course some will come over and earn well above $100k but then there are plenty of us that don't. It has a lot to do with where you live in Australia, what you consider to be a good income and probably what you earned in the UK as it is only natural (at least for a few years) to keep comparing.

 

We are based in Adelaide so this information is related to Adelaide, where salaries are lower, but then so will cost of housing say compared to Melbourne or Sydney. We arrived in 2007 and our COMBINED income was $93k both working full time and we came on a skilled visa as my OH works in IT. On this wage we still had a good life and we were able to get on the property ladder and buy our first house. 6 years later we both earn quite a bit more than this, but my OH still as a skilled migrant in IT does not earn over $100k, he earns a good wage and we have a comfortable lifestyle, live in a nice house in a nice area and enjoy life in Adelaide.

 

I work with plenty of migrants and read posts on the forums where they think the streets are paved with gold and for some it is, but for others it isn't. The reality sets in when they are applying for jobs. In Adelaide we have 300-400 applicants applying for $40k admin jobs.

 

Just to add our increase in earnings has been down to our determination to progress in the Adelaide job market. We have gained Australian qualifications and varied Australian work experience in a number of different areas. If we chose to, we could still be in the same jobs as when we arrived and still earning around the same money as I know from our previous colleagues the wages have not increased by much.

 

It can take time to turn the dream into a reality.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Jessica Berry

[VERYSTORMY]

These are the stats for the last two mines i have worked at in Oz - Two of Australias biggest non iron ore mines:

Truckies (Open Pit and biggest single group of people) $101k in one doing 2 weeks on, 6 days off. The other $94k doing 2 weeks on 2 weeks off. Both do 12 hour shifts with a week of nights week of days.

 

Truckies (Underground and second biggest group) $86K, rising to $93k. Both do two weeks on 6 days off 12 hour shifts with a week of nights week of days.

 

Ungergound diamind drillers (BNext biggest single group in one mine, only about 6th biggest in the other) Offsider with bonus $82k. Driller with bonus $96k Both do two weeks on 6 days off 12 hour shifts with a week of nights week of days

 

Bogger op. (Reguires min of 4 years experience in UG mining) $115k same shift as above.

 

General hand OP or Service crew underground. $75k. May rise to low $80's. Same 2:1 swing pattern

 

The big money is in UG jumbo op. Up to $280k for week on week off. But - very hard to get into. Very dangerous, lots go deaf and needs specific skills.

[VERYSTORMY]

Interesting post VERYSTORMY, think the salaries compare fairly well to offshore salaries, as I suppose the risk levels and the time away can be fairly similar. Offshore is also quite difficult to get into, unless you come in at a certain level with the right qualifications. But the salaries at the high end of the spectrum just keep on going!!!

 

Interesting as i havent a clue about off shore - other than for my own game. I know geologists earn a fair bit more off shore than in mining. When you work out the hourly rate for most roles it is between $33 and $40 an hour. About the same as a waitress in the Perth convention centre. Though with penalty rates and of course, they get public holidays off - which miners dont, the waitress is probably on a better thing.