$85 an hour… and still not worth it? Tradie calls out FIFO reality
A tradie earning up to $85 an hour in mining has gone viral after appearing in a TikTok where he spoke straight about what FIFO is really like.
Original TikTok interview by getahead.app where the worker breaks down FIFO life.
From the outside, the number grabs attention, but the story does not stay there. This bloke was honest on camera about what you actually have to put up with to earn that kind of hourly rate.
The video that cut through the hype
The clip, posted by TikTok account getahead.app, shows a fitter and turner working in mining answering a simple question, is FIFO really as good as it looks.
His answer came quick, no fluff, no long explanation, just straight to it. The pay is high, yeah… but the experience is not what people imagine.
The money is real… but so is the trade-off
The same bloke explains the income difference clearly, in a standard role he would be on around $40 an hour, while FIFO can push that up to between $75 and $85.
But that jump does not come easy. He talks about weeks hitting up to 84 hours of work, which completely changes your day to day, especially in a physical environment like mining.
Then there is everything else around it, the food is not great, living with others can get rough, and the air con hits hard enough to get into your bones.
“You’ve gotta wear thongs in the shower”
What no one tells you about FIFO
Beyond the pay, what he is really describing is a lifestyle people do not always talk about when FIFO comes up, long shifts, time away from home, constant shared living and conditions that work, but are far from comfortable.
The money is there, no doubt, but the question the clip leaves is not about how much you make, it is about what it actually takes to make it.
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