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WA enters recession


paul1977

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And I'm just about to employ a tradie that finally tendered a realistic quote. Been in the market a month and come across some corkers. If this is recession let it roll on.

 

Wait until your trade is affected and you have to start dropping your prices/cutting your hours.

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Wait until your trade is affected and you have to start dropping your prices/cutting your hours.

 

I think there needs to be a return to sanity, during boom times certain sectors of society take advantage and cash in, when things slow down things need to return to a normal level.

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Well it was bound to happen. All the years we've been in Australia with my husband in the construction industry it was always boom or bust. If you're wise, you realise this and save everything you can when times are good and ride out the bad times. I have to say that when WA and to a lesser extent QLD were experiencing the mining boom, I don't remember it making any difference to us in NSW. In fact under the state labour government NSW went downhill. What a useless lot they were. I'm just so glad we are out of the rat race and are managing on our hard earned savings and investments.

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Are you in mining VS ?

 

Is it fair to say it is swings and roundabouts ?

You had a fantastic boom with huge salaries for quite along time and now going through a lean patch.

 

More segments than purely mining benefited from the excess money around during the boom. As such spending was greater further impacting on demand and wages as the decline gathers pace.

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Yes, I am in mining. I would say that unemployment rate now at 40% for my industry is bit more than l"lean".

 

As as for salaries, actually something that is very misunderstood. They "appear" big. But in real terms aren't. That has always been one of my warnings to people entering the game. Per hour, they are not and never have been great. Just the hours long.

 

The he highest salary I have ever earned was close to the 200k mark. But, only for 1 year and in that year I was away from home 7 weeks at a time with one week home and the week home was largely spent in the office in perth. When I calculated it per hour I was earning $38. My average salary through the boom has been $130k. But, as the sole wage earner not huge. Less than two normal jobs. And that is as a senior person - reporting either close to board level in major companies or direct to board level in smaller companies.

 

The average salary in mining is $90k. Not that huge. Compile that with the fact most miners families can only have one full time earner as the earner is away from home and it is about the equivalent of a family of two full time earners earning 35k each. Not exactly big!

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Also, remeber, when a mine closes, it isn't the miners that are the biggest impact by a long way. I was involved in a mine closure this year. The press reported 250 job losses. However, on top were the contractors that maintain the camp - 50 staff. The contractors in the mill - 20 staff, the contractors providing expertise to areas such as geology - 40 staff, contractors providing misc services - 100 staff. The charter flights to the mine - I estimate 40 staff, the companies providing services to the mine such as supply trucks for food and equipment - I estimate 100 staff.

 

Then em factor in all these people now have to stop spending. So, the restaurants and cafes and shops they normally spent at simply lose that income. Then extrapolate by the the thousands.

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For many, it has felt like recession for a long time anyway. Certainly in my industry which has suffered big falls in employment and even those that have kept their jobs have often had to take big pay cuts.

 

Even if they have had to take a pay cut it's from a very good salary to a good one, so it's not all doom and gloom. A lot of the tradies won't lose their jobs. Still a massive employer in WA and will remain so, even in the downturn.

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Yes, I am in mining. I would say that unemployment rate now at 40% for my industry is bit more than l"lean".

 

As as for salaries, actually something that is very misunderstood. They "appear" big. But in real terms aren't. That has always been one of my warnings to people entering the game. Per hour, they are not and never have been great. Just the hours long.

 

The he highest salary I have ever earned was close to the 200k mark. But, only for 1 year and in that year I was away from home 7 weeks at a time with one week home and the week home was largely spent in the office in perth. When I calculated it per hour I was earning $38. My average salary through the boom has been $130k. But, as the sole wage earner not huge. Less than two normal jobs. And that is as a senior person - reporting either close to board level in major companies or direct to board level in smaller companies.

 

The average salary in mining is $90k. Not that huge. Compile that with the fact most miners families can only have one full time earner as the earner is away from home and it is about the equivalent of a family of two full time earners earning 35k each. Not exactly big!

 

You are right once again VS ...i have family loosely attached to the mining industry ......earning big money ...but when you scratch through the veneer of the big money,its not something that appeals ...long hours .....in an inhospitable environment .....

I honestly don't believe in "chasing the money ".....i ain't spending my bed years busting my ass ....

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You are right once again VS ...i have family loosely attached to the mining industry ......earning big money ...but when you scratch through the veneer of the big money,its not something that appeals ...long hours .....in an inhospitable environment .....

I honestly don't believe in "chasing the money ".....i ain't spending my bed years busting my ass ....

 

Agree, it's a young, single mans game FIFO I reckon. It's been great for my son and a load of his mates. One is 26, owns his house already, bought a nice subaru sports car cash, rents a room out in his house. My son has done loads of travelling over the last 3 or 4 years and spent all his. He's changed jobs twice in the last 3 months and is waiting to start in a new one next week. He's 25 though now and is thinking, at last, about buying a place and renting a room out, like his mate. So he's going to a 4x1 swing but really good money. He's been on an average of about $130,000 a year for a year or 2 but he's only been doing one week on one off. 4x1 will be tough.

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Lots of toys for the boys to be had for sure. Quite likely the easy money went to a lot of heads. No wonder why Australia has one of the largest personal debts as percentage of population in the world. Just need to look at how it has escalated over recent times.

Some lean times can only be of benefit to the economy as a whole as other considerations may just come to surface.

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Even if they have had to take a pay cut it's from a very good salary to a good one, so it's not all doom and gloom. A lot of the tradies won't lose their jobs. Still a massive employer in WA and will remain so, even in the downturn.

 

But that is just it. It is not, for most except young single people, good money. As a family it means only one can work. Then for the young singles, the majority - not all - are now in it bad. Many left school with no qualifications due to the attitude "I don't need them, I will drive a truck for big money in a mine". Only to find now, they are on a scrap heap aged in their 20's.

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Agree, it's a young, single mans game FIFO I reckon. It's been great for my son and a load of his mates. One is 26, owns his house already, bought a nice subaru sports car cash, rents a room out in his house. My son has done loads of travelling over the last 3 or 4 years and spent all his. He's changed jobs twice in the last 3 months and is waiting to start in a new one next week. He's 25 though now and is thinking, at last, about buying a place and renting a room out, like his mate. So he's going to a 4x1 swing but really good money. He's been on an average of about $130,000 a year for a year or 2 but he's only been doing one week on one off. 4x1 will be tough.

 

In my experience it's been the younger ones dropping out before the older guys, especially when they fail a D&A test (ice).

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