Groundie Salary in 2021

[Hodge]

Read all the responses so far, I appreciate everyones opinion. I think some of you have got the wrong impression though. I understand you have to learn to walk before you can run, I was simply asking if my salary was good or bad. Whether I agree with the £18k a year or not is another discussion. 
 
Groundie work is a form of labouring and I don’t care who you are, nobody wants to labour, at least not at the capacity of a groundie. It’s one thing being a brick layer, plumber, electrician, carpenter etc and a whole different thing sweating your balls off 9 hours a day and coming home with palms covered in blisters, a body covered in bruises, gashes, cuts, whiplash, a body which hurts particularly your back, the fatigue which ruins your social life after work and generally taking years off your life, the money spent on food for breaks just to get your stamina back etc etc, I just feel like you literally have to be nuts to willingly want to do it especially with such a tediously slow progression to the next checkpoint. 
 
I come from a labouring background and was on an hourly rate of £14ph, that’s normal in my opinion, it’s a shite job that no one wants to do so therefore you pay enough to attract. I have applied to numerous other jobs in the past as a labourer and companies were offering on average between £20k to £23k a year. There was another job I applied for in the past as a “general farm worker” and their starting wage was £24k a year. In my opinion, that low £20k range is normal and acceptable. 
 
I don’t know how groundies go what they go through for a mere £60 to £70 a day on average, it just doesn’t seem worth it in any sense of the imagination. And i’m not talking about the dossers with no aspirations who have been on JSA for a large part of their lives and don’t take groundie work seriously. I’m talking about genuinely hard grafters who get stuck in and give their best day in day out. 
 
From the money I see they are paying in North America, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the pay here (in the UK) really is peanuts in comparison. 
 
Even if I go off and get my CS30/31, the course on average is like £700 to £800 (which is insane), which gives me a ball in my court but without any decent return. 
 
I want to become a climber and have a genuine aspiration to become one, but at this rate I don’t know if it’s worth it with what you have to endure to become one. I’m sure there are easier routes, just none of them are accessible to me as of now.   
 
I honestly rather work a normal job, earning more money, without taking years off my life and where I can mentally and physically function after work and lead a normal social life even if it’s potentially “boring”, which by the way working is boring, every job is boring, unless you have a talent or a passion which you’re genuinely good at, all work is boring and shite, period. 
 
My sisters partner is a manager for an automotive company on £200k a year, he hates his work with a passion, the paperwork, all the travelling around the world and all the stress just ruins him and the money he’s on doesn’t stop him from loathing his work, all work is shite in more cases than not and the only thing that keeps him going is the relatively high salary, otherwise he would happily quit. 
 
I will stick to it until my probation period, carry on grafting hard and have a long hard think and go from there. 
 
I got the answer I asked for though, £18k a year is considered decent. 
 
Again, I appreciate everyone who responded, thank you. 

You can't have everything sadly. In this industry it's how it is. You should look at the plus points. 18 grand a year employed, holiday pay, sick pay etc and a job. From you post in response I think you may be in the wrong industry.

[MattyF]

I would quite happily labour if I could find some one to climb for me!

[carlos]

1 hour ago, MattyF said:

I would quite happily labour if I could find some one to climb for me!

i find its swings n roundabouts, some days on the ground is the tough part, and climbing is the easy bit other days its the reverse, we are a small team so we mix it up to suit ourselves.

are most groundies labour only? 

to me a groundie runs everything thats not in the tree, so hardly labour only. ( ive not worked with many crews so i could be wrong.

[htb]

4 hours ago, Hodge said:

You can't have everything sadly. In this industry it's how it is. You should look at the plus points. 18 grand a year employed, holiday pay, sick pay etc and a job. From you post in response I think you may be in the wrong industry.

Hodge. Good to see you back around.

[Hodge]

Hodge. Good to see you back around.

Cheers bud, I'm trying to keep it real....Arb is a great career of people tale it for what it is.....

[Gardenscape]

It's peanuts money. Taking into account that wages have hardly risen in years and inflation has, we are actually far worse off. It's so bloody wrong!