Tradie shortage set to worsen as fuel costs push apprentices off the tools
Fuel prices are already smashing everyone’s wallet across Australia. But apprentices are copping it the hardest. When you are barely scraping through the week, watching fuel chew through your pay hits different. Some are already thinking about walking away from the tools altogether.
Fuel prices are already smashing everyone’s wallet across Australia. But apprentices are copping it the hardest. When you are barely scraping through the week, watching fuel chew through your pay hits different. Some are already thinking about walking away from the tools altogether.
Fuel costs are eating into apprentice wages.
This is not just expensive anymore. It is getting unsustainable. Everyone feels it… but some feel it way harder.
Most of the pay going straight into the tank
Blokes like Tom Brooks, a 20 year old plumbing apprentice in his second year, show exactly what is going on.
Speaking to 9News, he says he earns around $650 a week, but nearly a third of that disappears just on fuel. He is doing about 70 km a day in his ute just to get to and from work.
With diesel sitting around $3 a litre in his area, it is hitting hard. Even filling up has become a mission, with some servos capping fuel at 40 or even 20 litres.
“It’s made budgeting for things like food a lot harder.”
Not just one bloke… a whole wave of apprentices
This is not just one story. It is happening across the board.
Even before this fuel mess, nearly 60% of plumbing apprentices needed help covering transport or training costs even before the fuel crisis, according to a Rheem Australia survey.
Now with fuel through the roof, things are getting tighter. Some are picking up extra work. Others are seriously thinking about pulling the pin on the trade.
Pressure that could hit the whole industry
Australia is already short on tradies. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing. All crying out for more people, according to the Housing Industry Association.
And now this kind of pressure is about to make it worse. Right when the country needs more boots on the ground to hit targets like building 1.2 million homes in five years.
There are subsidies, grants, bits of support here and there… but even with that, a lot of apprentices still cannot keep up with the cost of living.
Because at the end of the day, it is not just about having a job. It is about being able to afford to get there.
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Fuel prices are already smashing everyone’s wallet across Australia. But apprentices are copping it the hardest. When you are barely scraping through the week, watching fuel chew through your pay hits different. Some are already thinking about walking away from the tools altogether.