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sirarb

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  1. 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.
  2. Hi guys, new here... What is the going rate of an inexperienced groundie with no tickets? I saw some older posts from a while back with the latest one on this topic in 2014. Is the day rate different from 7 years ago? •What would be a yearly salary an inexperienced groundie with no tickets expect in the South of England? •What would be a yearly salary an experienced groundie with tickets (CS30/31) expect in the South of England? I have been working for a company, a very small one for a month now and they put me on a starting salary of £18k per year. I have a full driving license (although they haven’t yet insured me on their vehicles), no trailer license, no tickets but genuinely graft hard, I know how to use a chipper and use it every time we are on site, going to start using a chainsaw soon to cut up branches which have been cut from above and logging the bigger stems (only a month in, so makes sense), I know all the 10 or so basic knots such as the fisherman, double fisherman, figure of 8, bowline, clove hitch, distel hitch etc, I help out with rigging although admittedly not always intuitively (still learning) and I haven’t been taught how to set up a rig although it has been mentioned, I fill up petrol and oil of the chainsaws as well as help out time to time cleaning and blowing them out although the boss and another groundie with more experience does it more than I get the chance to, I grease the chipper and maintain all the tools so they are in good nick, I use the Kanga from time to time, do a lot of wood splitting if there is time left after a job has been completed before the end of work and overall make sure after every job I (we as a company) clean up like mad and rake and rake and rake some more until everything looks as good as it can. I initially thought £18k a year was low but being totally new to the industry and not knowing what is and isn’t normal I accepted it as I was green although willing to expand my horizons from a labourer/groundie to hopefully a climber which is what my aspirations are. So I have no idea if what I am getting paid is good, average or bad? Although I do feel like earning just over £1300 a month after tax is low. I could make more working in virtually most other basic jobs such as retail or a bar/pub as a waiter. My contract states 7.15am to 4.45pm but it’s been much more 7.30am to 4.30pm which are still 9 hour days which I think means I am earning a day gross of £69 with a net day income of £61, opinions on this would be nice? Obviously I have no balls in my court to help me negotiate a better salary when my probation period comes up in 2 months time and even if he was generous enough to give me a 15% increase (which would be highly unlikely) it really equates to not much at all, but at the same time I feel like £18k a year for someone in their mid twenties is really not great no matter how you look at it. I want to stay with my current employer, I like him, he is a genuinely a nice bloke who makes us all work hard and there is a nice personal feeling to the company as it’s pretty small and it’s a young company as well, the two bosses are brothers one is in his late 20’s and the other in his early 30’s. I like them and working for them although it’s hard to motivate myself knowing i’m earning a net of £61 a day, admittedly. I don’t want it to appear as if i’m talking behind their backs with this post, I am just genuinely interested in other peoples opinions on this who have a lot more experience than myself.

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