I was wondering if supermarket and retail sector job is considered as a low paid job?
I make about $800 per week after tax, but the job is easy and relatively secure due to permanent contract. Sorry I have no idea about the market. I am definitely living ‘modestly’ and still finding it very hard to save or see a future if pay is in this trajectory. Where can I apply to get a higher pay with my retail experience?
No it's too high for a high school grad.
This actually worsen the whole society as people become more laid-back.
Are there any opportunities to move up within the company you work for? I know a couple of people that have started out junior and a supermarket but have gone on to work in head office, albeit a number of years later.
Study a course, have a profession of specific skills should help you make more
Tradies make way more , they don't study, but are profesonals at what they do. Electricians Plumbers earn shitload of cash. Brick layers.
3200 a month for student or singles are more than enough unless you spend unwise.
I have family of 4, paying off a 500k loan, earns 80k roughly family income.
We are surviving.
Tradies make absolute bank, it's ridiculous. But they've also generally (self-employed ones) got less stable income that's very dependent on the market. Plus, it's just a physically more demanding job, with less opportunities for career advancement.
So like everything else, it's a trade off.
Yeah, people seem to think they make crazy money but don't factor in the instability.
You really need to compare apples to apples, that is a FT office/retail/food service worker to a FT plumber / electrician / carpenter. It's not that much considering it is skilled labor and generally physically exhausting.
People see the hourly rate or that an electrician charged them $500 for a few hours work but don't see the repayments on their car, equipment, insurance and all the other headaches that come with running a business. Quoting, dealing with people who don't want to pay on completion of a job, all that rubbish.
As a good customer, most people only see the good side and not the shit these guys also have to deal with.
I was in the supermarket industry, but ended up studying a uni degree on the side to change careers.
Depending on what you study, your instore skills can put you ahead of other candidates in getting a role in head office if your interested in staying within the industry.
Otherwise, if your not interested in studying and would like to stay within the industry, I'd recomend going for an entry level buying or category role. You would need to be in Melbourne if your supermarket is big and red, or in Sydney if your more on the green side. Metcash is also in Sydney.
Good luck!
It is all about trade off.
When i worked at woolies / coles / mcdonalds / kfc / officeworks / pizza hut / plus at least 5 other retail and hospitality jobs, during my late teens to early 20's, they were jobs you don't have to go home and think about them or be held responsible if anything goes wrong outside your direct responsibilities.
But they were jobs for me to survive. Some do stay to make it their career but they go up the ranks. Otherwise, it is just not enough to have a comfortable life in Sydney.
In rural where house prices are cheap, it may be possible.
My take home is about $900 in a lower management role in an office. I still consider myself low income, but for $100 a week less you’re not doing too badly. Maybe consider roles that are looking for sales experience.
40% of Australians are worse off than you, 60% earn higher. Assuming 3600 monthly pay.
Not only low paid, long run is very bad for health too, you need to stand there whole day, and always deal with frozen foods, when you getting old, you will know what happen for your bone etc, also, a lot of pressure from upper management for higher and higher budgeting and not enough staff problem, and you can't get double pay when work at weekend too, so, this job only good for our prime minister and his next generation!
Is "dealing with frozen food" bad for your health? What am I missing?
Not sure how medically/scientifically supported, but working long-term with cold produce/in freezers etc is supposedly bad for your joints and leads to potentially higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis in old age.
I had no idea. You'd think arthritis would be rampart in parts of the world with colder climates then, which is not something I've noticed from growing up in such a country, but I might just not have been paying enough attention.
@fruxo: Yeah, it's admittedly something my parents always told me and not something I've ever looked up myself, so it could be one of those urban myths.
The science around that is still very hazy at best. It is suspected at being a factor, but the only real study was not all that great where participants self assessed their work environments as cold or not cold.
Filling frozen goods requires constant changes in your environmental temperature during your work hours. Frequently switching from 24 to minus 18 degrees takes it toll on the immune system, not to mention the dust and pollutants that go hand in hand with cutting cardboard boxes all day. I worked in Coles for 7 years and dreaded cool-room work. The pay is about 20 cents an hour more but doesn't compensate the toll on the body. I can't imagine 45+ year olds working the freezers full-time. Supermarket dairycase workers are known as 'arctic-slaves'.
what's the min age to be able to apply for a casual job at super markets? 16?
14 and 9 months generally
i was getting $28/hour as a school teacher (about 10 years ago). I definitely felt poorer working harder, and if i remember correctly i got paid for 32 hours a week. The school holidays were the best thing going for that job.
Since leaving the industry and working in local government without the classroom toil, i earned a similar wage but felt much wealthier doing something comfortable. the change also made me reconsider a lot of the ways i spend and save money.
Im back in the classroom now, overseas, and i feel healthier and successful in my job, which will always be more important than the money.
I would suggest you reconsider your spending habits and measure the time youre currently spending, and how you best want to use that time. bring about a lifestyle change that gives you more. I recommend furthering your education personally with reading and study or take a course in something you're interested in to bring your capabilities up.
The best you can do in your situation is start a side business to bring in extra money. Build something with the plan of it becoming your primary source of income. changing weekly work hours for more income isnt going to bring you satisfaction.
If you are permanent and dont have any other offers coming in with permanent ongoing work, not casual or short term contract bs, stay put. Hard to get fired unless you are caught stealing.
Any job is a good job so long as you are being paid.
Not enough work going around imo
And yet people with jobs still complaining about not getting high enough penalty rates…
I blame our education system. It caters to the religious and the multicultural…but rarely takes Australian Culture or Rational Thinking or Budgeting to consideration.
I think I learned more things from OzBargain itself.
Having worked for one of the big two supermarket chains for the last three and a half years (3 while in high school, 6 months while currently in uni), I honestly feel better off than most of my peers that have worked in restaurants, fast food, and even some other retail chains. I don't really get paid any more than those of my age, but more on that later.
One of my mates worked for a diner chain that recently closed its doors and has left him without a job, and another for a surf shop that also closed down leaving him in a similar position.
My girlfriend works for one of the two high end department stores, and she often has difficulty in swapping shifts/declining to work even as a casual team member, due to there not being one sole manager she can contact in order to arrange this. She has also had to deal with deceitful customers that pull off certain scams and copped it from managers despite not really being trained on how to pick up on those tricks.
Meanwhile, for the entire time I've worked I've had really great bosses that have been totally understanding of my educational commitments, as well as paid annual and sick leave (thanks to being on a part-time contract).
As for wage:
Last year I worked only 10hrs/week as I wanted to ensure I did well in my final year of high school. This meant working 4 hours on a week night and 6 on Sunday. As a result, I made decent money while still having plenty of time to focus on my studies. During school holidays I also picked up a bunch of extra shifts that were paid with casual loading.
Now, under the new EBA my protected pay rate (based on average rate for the last 12 months, to ensure team members do not earn less than they did prior to agreement change) is actually about the same as a >20 y.o., rather than the 75% than I would normally get paid as an 18 year old (~$21 vs $14.59). I did not see this enterprise bargaining agreement coming and it worked out really well in my favour.
So yeah, while the average supermarket employee isn't that much better off financially than a food service employee, there are a few perks to being in a big chain like this than working elsewhere especially as a young adult/student that needs added flexibility while still maintaining job security.
If your with a massive company, that has been in Australia for >20 years… then generally speaking, many others will be awaiting promotions based on seniority (having been there longer) .
So try an upcoming company, fairly new to Australia. For example, for anyone who joined aldi or costco early on (or even now) , I would expect promotions would be much easier to get for a new employee, than if you were working at coles… or kmart… where there would likely be employees waiting many years for promotion.
Also, some retail is commission based, so that could equate to a higher salary for you.
Could open your own retail store, if you have the skills/talent to do so .
I don't know your skill set. If high salary/income is what you're after, then look at what unique skills or talents you have. A career change might be in order. You would need to be exceptional at retail, and/or move up into management roles, if you want to be considered by others to be in the high income bracket .
Remember, money is certainly not everything in life, it buys 'stuff' and a certain amount is needed to be comfortable. Not having enough income to make ends meet can be kind of depressing, but studies show that having lots of money, compared to having enough money, does not make one happier. Struggling to pay bills, is bad for an individual's psychological health (Im studying psych, hence the references).
Thanks. Really really good suggestions. I was offered promotions but declined them because I did not feel that I was ready. However I think I would be taking them up now.
Have you sat down with your store manager? Most of the time we were desperately chasing DMs. 2IC to DM can pretty much happen over night.
I went dairy PT, dairy FT, grocery 2IC, duty manager, salary duty manager, dry goods manager in 3 stores to store support manager in 4 years.
What's the pay like for managers?
@distemper: really depends. (Including super) a starting salary of around 62k for a DM. A store manager in Coles/KMart/Target a lowly paid is closer to just over a hundred, a higher paid closer to 130+(there's plenty over this). Then bonuses on top.
You make $800 per week after tax at a supermarket, I make $900 per week after tax as a doctor
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Damn. How come? How many hours? What are you a doctor of?!
Medicine, but I'm very junior
Full time, 40-55 hrs /week but the anything over 40 hours on a nonsurgical (ie 80% of the year) term is unpaid
OOOOHHHHHHHHH….. yeah I have friends in the same boat. My condolences. For what it's worth, at least your career ceiling is high.
But you know this will be temporary as you build training and experience.
It is very different if you were stuck at this level for the rest of your career.
We have some nurses working with us but I do believe they won't be working once they finish their practicums and get proper placements.
Med student here - Is this enough to support another dependent living with you?
Tell your dependent to get a job. Unless they're a kid… but then why do you already have a kid when you're a jr dr? Don't have kids this early.
Depends what kind of lifestyle youre after and where you're living. A lot of students live on much less than 900pw just fine. I think you can manage a child/dependent on that just fine. Just don't plan on sending them to private school any time soon.
But you are a communist - perhaps you should consider donating $50 per week to OP so both you guys can make $850 per week.
Didn't think so.
are you a back alley doctor?
low or high - it is all relative.
I don't know your current job position/title, but I would encourage you to look for opportunities to progress within the organisation in some ways, assuming you would want to progress up the career ladder. There are people who get paid 100k/200k/300k+ p.a. within your organisation, so maybe you can be one of them too if that is your goal.
Lets check back in a 5 years maybe?
To simplify all the comparitive 'math-ing' in this thread:
www.paycalculator.com.au
But answer to OP, its relative. As long as you're happy and live comfortably.
I took a huge paycut moving to Brisbane from Sydney. But i am better off plus i save 3hrs a day of public transport (5hrs if driving from west syd to city). Sanity and health is priceless
I bet you have better weather as well.
and no daylight savings :D
Supermarkets have almost endless progression.. You just have to work for it. Just finished my 18 year Coles career 2 weeks ago, Ive been overpaid for what I was doing for the last 3 years. But that has now led to much greener pastures. Bank what you can and aim as high as you can.
I should also add think multi brand work. Or if you want to be a DM and progress from there and the opportunity isn't there, move to another store.
Well said, @Soluble. OP should consider staying at Woolies and try his best to climb the corporate ladder. Switching job is a viable option, but not the only option.
If decided to go down this path, OP might want to try:
It's not so bad if it's plus commission but if you're someone like a storeman then don't even bother……
This post was a nice change from the usual "im a senior systems analyst making 500k a year what colour trim should i get on my lambo?". First guy on ozb who is at least honest about his wage.
Thanks. I am really worried about my situation at the moment as I have no room for errors, especially after I have been budgeting (it is a reality check) and exactly know and prioritise my finances pretty modestly.
Ive never had a high wage, put it that way. Its definitely about keeping costs under control. Rent is a massive killer.
If I was single I would seriously consider living aboard, particularly as there are no restrictions on doing so in the Brisbane river. With mobile phones and solar panels being so versatile these days, you can actually have reasonable amenity living aboard, you dont need a TV, etc etc.
I have a mate who's lived aboard, it definitely crimps the romantic life a bit, then again, I suppose if you find the right girl she might get a kick out of it. But just the relief of not having to pay rent is massive.
Do you mean living abroad while working in Australia remotely?
@Superannuation: I think he means literally aboard a boat. Because he mentions:
as there are no restrictions on doing so in the Brisbane river.
and
not having to pay rent
Depending on what age you are, there are people in a lot worse situations than you are. I'm in a junior office job and only pull in $650 a week. I don't see how you're having trouble to save as youre nearly on a grad salary who work a lot longer hours than you, and have much more responsibilities including when they come home. You can succeed in retail, especially from my experience at a certain supermarket moving to department 2ic which can be salaried in some cases and then department managers who earn up to 80k which is around average HOUSEHOLD income. Either go back to studying, or push on with what you have, it's going to be very hard making any move unless you have a degree. Not sure what your age is op but theres definitely a future in retail if you wish to stay. If your not progressing maybe look at what you could do internally such as working harder or working unpaid overtime which was what got me promoted in just 6 months (being only 19 at the time).
Whether a job pays high or low will depend on what the alternatives are. If you're earning $800 per week and everyone else will only pay you less, then you're getting paid a high wage. If other people are lining up to pay you more than $800 p.w. then you are earning a low wage. So you really need to sit down and assess your skills and training and think about whether you fall in terms of employable skills and qualifications.
From the amount you're being paid, I'm assuming that you're probably stacking shelves, doing checkouts, or at most, be in some junior local management role. None of these roles really have long term development prospects. They're (in all honesty) jobs you have whilst you're studying or in the breaks between semesters to make a quick buck. If that's what your situation is, then you're in a good place - supermarket jobs are really secure compared to other alternatives (e.g. restaurants and fast food), and hearing from people who've worked at Woolies/Coles, the work tends to be relaxed than at a typical fast food joint, restaurant or small chain store where you actually have real sales responsibilities.
If you're simply working at a supermarket and are not in the process of getting somewhere better, I strongly suggest that you have a look at your options in terms of moving towards a more sales oriented role or pursuing further education and/or training. The issue with supermarket work is that it's not really "retail experience". You don't develop any customer service skills, so you're not really able to transition smoothly into a high level sales role (e.g. with a bank, insurance firm, car dealership…etc.). Retail and customer service are not bad sectors to work in, I'm quite sure that real estate agents and car salesmen earn more than me (and I have postgraduate degrees!), but you need to move away from stacking shelves and manning checkouts.
Lets break it down to an hourly rate.
$20-$30 - Low
$30-$60 - Med
$60+ High
I would split 30-60 bracket.
30-40 med
40-60 high
60+ very high
You got people up there earning millions and people getting 80 dollars an hour because they are …. 'good'
Minimum wage should be raised to an hourly rate of $30 at least.
After all, you are carrying your manager's ass most of the time and cleaning up after him.
I think when I hit $1000 a week take home, I was able to sort myself out much easier and really started to get ahead.
Honestly it isnt much difference after tax.
My advice is try to change the structure of your income so you can either claim alot of tax back in certain industries like real estate or having your own ABN and become a contractor.
The most inportant step is having an investment property where you can claim depreciation so you get about 5-6k extra worth of tax back per year.
Other than that, dont fuss the small numbers and get into careers you dont like doing.
@Blitzfx:
Even so, that's $60-65k for only 3 Months (if we assume pro-rata). You could easily take a month holiday before, a month holiday after to recuperate. That leaves you with 7 months to work at Woolies to earn another $20-30k.
So you're still better off than 80% of Australians… getting paid $80-100k a year.
Like you said, do that for five years and you can potentially buy a house and not worry about the nightmare that is Mortgage. Heck, even after that point you can enter a "retirement phase" not that I recommend it. But these High Yield jobs are very difficult to come-by, and even more difficult to get yourself in a position for them to even consider you. Something that most immigrants and aussies don't really consider when thinking about "the land of opportunity" =/= "land of easy life".