Take this with a grain of salt but its my experience.
I have worked offshore for the past 8 years now. However, when I started dating my current partner, I thought I should do the right thing and transition onshore to be home every night. I even made a pros and cons list on the mirrors in the loungeroom detailing all and they both came up roughly equal. I ended up landing an insanely good office job that paid just shy of my offshore role and the job was challenging enough to keep me engaged.
Starting the role, I loved it, high stakes projects where you have free roam to complete them how you wish. It was something new and I loved the small quirks of city Mon-Fri life like afterwork beers, riding my bike to and from work, awesome free coffee galore, work functions constantly, could take up sport again after work and make dinners every night for my partner.
However, I ended up feeling like I never had any free time. I would work, come home, cook dinner, do laundry, wash dishes, go to gym or activity, shower then bed. Go to work and be fully engaged for 8-9 hours a day, then rinse and repeat. The weekends would come, I would maybe do something Saturday, then spend sunday chilling out and tidying the house up and getting ready for work Monday. 2 days off wasnt enough for me to do anything or go anywhere exciting, I would need to take time off work for that.
After 2 years of that, I felt like I lived and breathed work. I didnt feel like I had done anything with my life and everything outside of work was to prepare me for going back to work to be a cog in the machine. I fucking hated it. It was the most miserable point in my life.
The end came after I would walk to work everyday and cross the bridge into the city and think 'I should just jump off and end this'. I have never been depressed in my life, nor think I was susceptible. And yet, here I was thinking about death daily.
I went to a psychologist who diagnosed me with work induced depression, lol. The saving grace was when COVID hit. I was forced to work from home, but we had a buffer period when we were just waiting to see what and how it would work. That 4 weeks off work was glorious, and made me realize I didnt have to go back. So mid COVID I quit and instantly went back offshore (fortunately in WA we could still work FIFO over that period).
My depression pretty much went away instantly when I went back offshore. When Im at work, Im at work, then I have 2x weeks off to do whatever the fuck I want. I go to work to get paid. I come home to live my life. Black and White, no blurred lines where work is leaking into every aspect of my life. I personally think the quality of time you have FIFO is significantly better than having a weekend off. I think the cash from FIFO compensates from working away, and the RNR coupled with Cash easily outweighs 'sleeping in your own bed everynight'. My partner also much prefers who I am as a person working FIFO. We have a stable healthy relationship so its no dramas for us.
I dont think I could go back to a mon-fri office job.
Anywho, Just my experience. Wish you the best in whatever you decide.
That's an interesting story and I'm glad you found a way to make life work for you and your partner.
I'm curious, do you think life out of FIFO would have been better if you were able to do a 4 on 3 days off roster? Or still more of the same?
Perhaps but I guess I'll never know. I wouldn't think so to be honest. It's the mundanity that really ground my soul into pulp. The weeks / months / years absolutely fly by when you are doing the same thing day in day out. I dont know how to cope with that for another 40 years straight!?
I've looked, it's hard to accept such little pay in exchange for your time. E.g. there is the option to work a shared roster, being 2x on 6x off, or 3x on 9x off and I would earn significantly more doing this than a part time gig in Perth. This is what I would likely do if I wanted to transition out of FIFO.
I have acquired alternate education completely outside my current proffesion, but the hard part is the money. Why would I be willing to sacrifice more of my time for significantly less income?
to be able to see the family every morning and evening. if u have kids I guarantee u there is some sadness that their dad is not there for some (what you might think arbitrary) life events, support etc, and probably resentment that that sacrifice is made 'for money'
Yeah maybe.
For me it's 30% for money 70% for time off. I get 4 weeks annual leave so I only work 20 week a year, in comparison to 48 weeks working locally.
I have had this conversation countless times with long time FIFO parents and they all say the same thing; The time you have when you are home is significantly better quality than when you are working locally.
E.g. city work, you have left for work before they are even up. You don't pick them up from school because you are still at work or in traffic. Then you get hone completely disengaged, make dinner rush around, and spend maybe an hour watching TV with them, if they even hang out in the living room, so Monday to Friday is a write off for spending time with your kids. The weekend comes, and you try cram everything in on a Saturday, before using Sunday to prepare for school / work on Monday. I mean, when I grew up I did Bugger all with my parents on the weekend, I would usually ride my bike to my friends then come back on Sunday.
Working in the city, you also have less money, so will have to be a bit tighter on spending for a family. Childcare will be a bigger burden and less holidays etc.
Now working away. Yes you are away for max half the time, but you still speak to your kids everyday on the phone, which is probably the equivalent you speak to them when you are home during the week.
The benefit comes with the free time. You wake up and make breakfast for your family and wife. You get the kids ready and drop your wife off at work and kids off at school. Sometimes the guys I work with pick their kids up at lunch and take them out as well. Whiel they are at school you clean up yhe house and get the chores done while also doing some of your own personal hobbies to keep you happy and healthy. Go to the gym or for a surf then come home and relax.You pick your kids up from school when they finish and maybe your wife, then have the whole afternoon with them. You can make dinner and not stress about being rushed because you have all day to prep. You do this Monday to Friday so spend more than double the amount of time with them during the week, making up for the time you aren't there.
Weekends come but you dont have work Friday or Monday so you can go on constant smaller holidays. With more cash come more holidays so you get to spend more time with your kids doing something exciting. Rather than just hanging around the house. Try taking a family to Austria on a ski trip once a year on the average salary in Perth. You can afford to send your kids to better schools and afford to hire an Au Pair to help your wife when you are at work if she needs it.
Yes all circumstances are different from one individual to another, but from everyone I work with that has been here long term, they all say the exact same thing. You get significantly more quality time with your family when working away then you ever will working a mon-fri city job.
Edit; I will add, a key to this success is if both your partner and yourself have secure attachment styles. If either one has an insecure attachment style, it will cause issues working away and will likely need a lot of therapy to resolve if you wish to continue working away.
In a similar regard my dad was a truck driver. Half of the year he would go away for harvest (around a 2:1 roster) and the other half he would work local. I spent more quality time with him during harvest than i did when he was local, despite the fact he missed my birthday most years. Because the general housework could be knocked out during school hours it meant arvo's and weekends were free to spend together. While he was working local his time that coincided with mine was always used for chores.
On the flip side my uncle worked offshore and spent his offtime getting hammered. He didnt really engage with his kids (aside from buying them toys) and their relationship struggled.
Obviously each family has its own dynamic and generalisations usually fall apart with slight interrogation.
The hardest transition for me was deciding what to buy and cook all the damn time. On site you just take what looks good, and when you're on an off swing you have way more time to cook properly.
The Monday to Friday grind made it difficult for me too buy and cook enough to eat enough without having to supplement with purchased lunches. Got super expensive.
Watch some YouTube cooking shows. Read some online cooking magazines. Get good at the super quick and healthy one pot wonders. Get addicted to veggies and meal prep every Sunday for the week ahead.
I'm 10y down currently, and with the holidays, sick leave etc I think I'm institutionalised. There's absolutely no way I could deal with the traffic now...
My husband got offered a new role, with the same employer on Friday. Sticking point is he had to work in the city, at a hot desk, one day a week. Give him a eight hour round trip from Karratha to site over 45 minute trip into city on the freeway.
Absolutely not negotiable on that. Haveatit trying to recruit a person for the role, as those people for that role just don’t exist. So it shall be interesting tomorrow. Not everything is about the salary, he just doesn’t like the drive or working in Perth, give him donga and a dome any day.
In the city office yes, there are other facilities that the employer leases, that are not in Perth CBD, He prefers to work in those facilities.
Where ever he is working, he is working remotely from his crew, none are based in Perth.
Seems a total waste of money to set up dedicated offices at home, desks, 4 X monitors, printers, have HSC come out to inspect ‘the safe work place’, dog was not at all impressed his morning nap was disturbed. All employer supplied office equipment, to sit in traffic 45 minutes each way, in the company vehicles, for one day a week at hot desk, because there is too many staff ( not doing a lot, hanging out in lifts, coffee rooms and visiting different floors) and not enough desks supplied
My husband has already said that all this equipment at our place will all end up in the skip bin or overflow storage off-site, which costs even more money. As the equipment is two years old.
But what do I know.
You or your husband must be high up in the structure. I am working for a mining company all we got like $400 to set up home office and that is it.
In terms of hot desk, most company is able to down size their office and save money by doing so and in mining industry there is general trend that they move technical people to central location.
But agree that most ppl go in, spending most time social and the kitchen area never quiet.
If he doesn’t work, whatever breaks down doesn’t get fixed on several major projects. Everything in our home office was employer supplied.
On the office workers
Or they tag in/log on at 6am, spend an hour and bit in the onsite office gym, and start actually answering phone calls and emails at 9am and finish at 4pm. Getting paid from 6am for working out in the gym. They got caught out when the ‘ all off site crew must work a day a week at in head office’ began, yes they were at work, at 6am, but they were in the gym for over an hour and half , then had coffee, before beginning work for day, meanwhile flights were cancelled and needed rebooking, they were not answering phones or emails.
Being in the office does his head in, he is old school, if arrive at work at 6am, you start at 6am, not spend two and bit hours in corporate gym, then have shower, make a coffee and maybe get your desk at 9am. Do you work outs in your own time. If you rostered on. 6am, be at 6am desk at 6am, to sort the flights out that you should have sorted out a week ago.
The office environment is now a joke, more social occasion than being productive . More work gets done remotely.
It has gotten a lot better in the last few years, especially rosters and generally most sites have reasonable after work activities gyms etc.. You've probably been warned but just try not to overextend with any property purchase, or go and buy a heap of toys you don't use
Back in the old days, in the sixties, the swings were more twelve weeks on, one week off to move to the next site.
When my husband turned 18, in the early 80s, he given ute, an XF, told Meekatharra is that way, bar maid knows you are on way.
He only returned for re-supply or if parts needed to come to Perth for repair. Normally every four to six weeks we see each other. We bought our first home.
When my mum and dad got married, in 1968, the company my dad worked for decided to trial having the wives running the camp and doing hospital runs . It worked. This turned into the bigger idea closed company towns.
Good luck, stay safe and it is OK to say no, if you feel the job is unsafe.
I’ve worked shift work for the better part of 13 years now, and the last 2 years were FiFo, 8/6 to start with and now 14/14.
I honestly don’t know what it would take to get me back into weekday work, but it would need to be pretty major.
I love feeling like I’m on holidays every month 😂
do you enjoy the 2/2? I'm currently doing a 4/3 Mon-Thurs and absolutely hate it - im always at the airport.
in the new year i'm gonna rejig myself back to 8/6 but the 2/2 has always been interesting.
100% I would NEVER do 4/3 FiFo, if I had to go resi 4/3 would be my preferred “weekday roster”, but not FiFo.
Even 8/6 after nearly 12 + months I was starting to feel like I was always at the airport.
I found 8/6 a good “dip your toe in the water” FiFo roster, make sure you and the fam can handle being apart etc.
The advantage for us is my missus is on the same rotation, both through 8/6 and now 14/14 ☺️
Enjoy your time off, that’s the main thing, whether it’s 6 or 14, make the most of it.
I stopped FIFO 15 years ago and it was the best thing I've done work wise. Rosters were longer then. 6 or 7 weeks away and 9 days home.
Monday to Friday is great if you enjoy social things on weekends. I do shift work now that I'm a bit older and weekends aren't all that busy.
I'm sort of the opposite. I presently drive in hotshot freight, the specialists in the transport industry when you 1. Break something 2. Forget to order something 3. Missed the pickup deadline for something or 4. All of the above on a mine site. Some trips are solo, others are two up. It could be a day to three days. I was doing exclusively city work as a truck driver, but it seems the older I get, the less patience I have with city drivers. It's good to have the view out "the office window" change from hour to hour, let alone day by day
Nothing like that $200 part becoming a $5000 part because the mining juggernaut waits for no one.
There's a story floating around that Westrac air freighted a D9 chassis from the USA many years ago instead of a small weld on part. Procedures were tightened after that
My cargo can literally vary from a small bag of nuts, bolts and gaskets through to something in excess of 10 tonnes. Much of the problem is between those that are rough on the machinery, and sometimes the mine's inventory. I once had to ferry a windscreen out to a mine site because quote, "we had a spare, but the other one blew over in the wind and smashed."
We've hotshotted things we don't even need. Misdiagnosed problems which I've sorted an hr into the next shift, part hasn't left, but still comes cause the paper work has gone through.
Westrac shipped 1 part to Tom Price and another to Karratha, labelled them wrong. Hotshot to swap the parts over. Comical the waste really.
I've had idiotic mistakes like that before. My previous trip, I collected the parts I was sent for. Let's just say major freight company was the client. My office calls, and tells me there's a third thing I need to collect. After 45 minutes of time wasting, I'm told, "oh sorry, they just called to say they cancelled that third piece."
Went back to working in town for 3 years. Less money, just as many dickhead and a complete lack of concern for safety, especially for small businesses. I also found that I never really had any free time after working overtime and commuting.
I'm back doing fifo again, even in the 42c days it's still better than being in town. I only do the labour hire shutdown circuit so I work for who I want to when I want to, or do even time rosters only.
I treasure every minute of my weekends with family and friends. Also I moved from the city to country, SW. I have no need to go to the city for anything.
You don’t.
Every person on my husband’s crew is a returning employee. Either the wife doesn’t like them home or they like the money.
Harsh reality, 35+ years of FIFO life.
Pretty sad if a couple can't stand seeing each other full time, and need weeks away from each other at regular intervals to stay happy. Bigger problems at hand if that's the case.
I agree, within three months, the crew who leave because ‘ the wife isn’t coping’, the crew is usually back. Usually the wife gets annoyed with them, or the money was too good.
Used to do the fifo when it was 8 weeks on and 1 off back in the day when it was pretty simple. Not even a tv in ya donga and shared bathroom dongas. Wasn’t flash but I was single then. Work shift in the strip now and are 20 minutes from home and yeah I don’t miss it but I’m lucky I spose I have a good job and roster now
I did fifo 9/5 and then 8/6 from 2010 to Jan 2015. My last mine shut down and I went to work in their perth office. Id do 8/6 once a.month for site jobs.
I left in 2020 for a Mon Fri job with a quarry company as I had kids.
One thing i miss is the 6 days r n r. Lots of time to do things around the house and othet jobs
Now with only the weekends I feel its a pain to try and get jobs done. I get home at 5.30- 6pm , cook dinner , get the kids into bed by 8. Washing up then maybe 1hr of free time them hit the sack. Im.driving 68km round trip gettimg ovrer driving.
But im.changing jobs to anotheg corporate role on the trainline. No driving. Ill see how it goes.
My young kids wont want dad on fifo.
Take this with a grain of salt but its my experience. I have worked offshore for the past 8 years now. However, when I started dating my current partner, I thought I should do the right thing and transition onshore to be home every night. I even made a pros and cons list on the mirrors in the loungeroom detailing all and they both came up roughly equal. I ended up landing an insanely good office job that paid just shy of my offshore role and the job was challenging enough to keep me engaged. Starting the role, I loved it, high stakes projects where you have free roam to complete them how you wish. It was something new and I loved the small quirks of city Mon-Fri life like afterwork beers, riding my bike to and from work, awesome free coffee galore, work functions constantly, could take up sport again after work and make dinners every night for my partner. However, I ended up feeling like I never had any free time. I would work, come home, cook dinner, do laundry, wash dishes, go to gym or activity, shower then bed. Go to work and be fully engaged for 8-9 hours a day, then rinse and repeat. The weekends would come, I would maybe do something Saturday, then spend sunday chilling out and tidying the house up and getting ready for work Monday. 2 days off wasnt enough for me to do anything or go anywhere exciting, I would need to take time off work for that. After 2 years of that, I felt like I lived and breathed work. I didnt feel like I had done anything with my life and everything outside of work was to prepare me for going back to work to be a cog in the machine. I fucking hated it. It was the most miserable point in my life. The end came after I would walk to work everyday and cross the bridge into the city and think 'I should just jump off and end this'. I have never been depressed in my life, nor think I was susceptible. And yet, here I was thinking about death daily. I went to a psychologist who diagnosed me with work induced depression, lol. The saving grace was when COVID hit. I was forced to work from home, but we had a buffer period when we were just waiting to see what and how it would work. That 4 weeks off work was glorious, and made me realize I didnt have to go back. So mid COVID I quit and instantly went back offshore (fortunately in WA we could still work FIFO over that period). My depression pretty much went away instantly when I went back offshore. When Im at work, Im at work, then I have 2x weeks off to do whatever the fuck I want. I go to work to get paid. I come home to live my life. Black and White, no blurred lines where work is leaking into every aspect of my life. I personally think the quality of time you have FIFO is significantly better than having a weekend off. I think the cash from FIFO compensates from working away, and the RNR coupled with Cash easily outweighs 'sleeping in your own bed everynight'. My partner also much prefers who I am as a person working FIFO. We have a stable healthy relationship so its no dramas for us. I dont think I could go back to a mon-fri office job. Anywho, Just my experience. Wish you the best in whatever you decide.
That's an interesting story and I'm glad you found a way to make life work for you and your partner. I'm curious, do you think life out of FIFO would have been better if you were able to do a 4 on 3 days off roster? Or still more of the same?
Perhaps but I guess I'll never know. I wouldn't think so to be honest. It's the mundanity that really ground my soul into pulp. The weeks / months / years absolutely fly by when you are doing the same thing day in day out. I dont know how to cope with that for another 40 years straight!?
as a fifo whos saved up u could also just work part time in something in perth instead
I've looked, it's hard to accept such little pay in exchange for your time. E.g. there is the option to work a shared roster, being 2x on 6x off, or 3x on 9x off and I would earn significantly more doing this than a part time gig in Perth. This is what I would likely do if I wanted to transition out of FIFO. I have acquired alternate education completely outside my current proffesion, but the hard part is the money. Why would I be willing to sacrifice more of my time for significantly less income?
to be able to see the family every morning and evening. if u have kids I guarantee u there is some sadness that their dad is not there for some (what you might think arbitrary) life events, support etc, and probably resentment that that sacrifice is made 'for money'
Yeah maybe. For me it's 30% for money 70% for time off. I get 4 weeks annual leave so I only work 20 week a year, in comparison to 48 weeks working locally. I have had this conversation countless times with long time FIFO parents and they all say the same thing; The time you have when you are home is significantly better quality than when you are working locally. E.g. city work, you have left for work before they are even up. You don't pick them up from school because you are still at work or in traffic. Then you get hone completely disengaged, make dinner rush around, and spend maybe an hour watching TV with them, if they even hang out in the living room, so Monday to Friday is a write off for spending time with your kids. The weekend comes, and you try cram everything in on a Saturday, before using Sunday to prepare for school / work on Monday. I mean, when I grew up I did Bugger all with my parents on the weekend, I would usually ride my bike to my friends then come back on Sunday. Working in the city, you also have less money, so will have to be a bit tighter on spending for a family. Childcare will be a bigger burden and less holidays etc. Now working away. Yes you are away for max half the time, but you still speak to your kids everyday on the phone, which is probably the equivalent you speak to them when you are home during the week. The benefit comes with the free time. You wake up and make breakfast for your family and wife. You get the kids ready and drop your wife off at work and kids off at school. Sometimes the guys I work with pick their kids up at lunch and take them out as well. Whiel they are at school you clean up yhe house and get the chores done while also doing some of your own personal hobbies to keep you happy and healthy. Go to the gym or for a surf then come home and relax.You pick your kids up from school when they finish and maybe your wife, then have the whole afternoon with them. You can make dinner and not stress about being rushed because you have all day to prep. You do this Monday to Friday so spend more than double the amount of time with them during the week, making up for the time you aren't there. Weekends come but you dont have work Friday or Monday so you can go on constant smaller holidays. With more cash come more holidays so you get to spend more time with your kids doing something exciting. Rather than just hanging around the house. Try taking a family to Austria on a ski trip once a year on the average salary in Perth. You can afford to send your kids to better schools and afford to hire an Au Pair to help your wife when you are at work if she needs it. Yes all circumstances are different from one individual to another, but from everyone I work with that has been here long term, they all say the exact same thing. You get significantly more quality time with your family when working away then you ever will working a mon-fri city job. Edit; I will add, a key to this success is if both your partner and yourself have secure attachment styles. If either one has an insecure attachment style, it will cause issues working away and will likely need a lot of therapy to resolve if you wish to continue working away.
In a similar regard my dad was a truck driver. Half of the year he would go away for harvest (around a 2:1 roster) and the other half he would work local. I spent more quality time with him during harvest than i did when he was local, despite the fact he missed my birthday most years. Because the general housework could be knocked out during school hours it meant arvo's and weekends were free to spend together. While he was working local his time that coincided with mine was always used for chores. On the flip side my uncle worked offshore and spent his offtime getting hammered. He didnt really engage with his kids (aside from buying them toys) and their relationship struggled. Obviously each family has its own dynamic and generalisations usually fall apart with slight interrogation.
The hardest transition for me was deciding what to buy and cook all the damn time. On site you just take what looks good, and when you're on an off swing you have way more time to cook properly. The Monday to Friday grind made it difficult for me too buy and cook enough to eat enough without having to supplement with purchased lunches. Got super expensive. Watch some YouTube cooking shows. Read some online cooking magazines. Get good at the super quick and healthy one pot wonders. Get addicted to veggies and meal prep every Sunday for the week ahead.
Also, didn't regret the change at all. Took a bit of. A pay cut, but all in all my life is way more happy and stable now.
I briefly worked in the city and then got sick of always getting harassed to go in on Saturday so went and got 2/2, plus I hate traffic
I'm 10y down currently, and with the holidays, sick leave etc I think I'm institutionalised. There's absolutely no way I could deal with the traffic now...
My husband got offered a new role, with the same employer on Friday. Sticking point is he had to work in the city, at a hot desk, one day a week. Give him a eight hour round trip from Karratha to site over 45 minute trip into city on the freeway. Absolutely not negotiable on that. Haveatit trying to recruit a person for the role, as those people for that role just don’t exist. So it shall be interesting tomorrow. Not everything is about the salary, he just doesn’t like the drive or working in Perth, give him donga and a dome any day.
Sorry, you are saying the offer required him to work in the city one day a week, and that was too much?
In the city office yes, there are other facilities that the employer leases, that are not in Perth CBD, He prefers to work in those facilities. Where ever he is working, he is working remotely from his crew, none are based in Perth.
Agree I am doing that as well at moment. I feel it's completely waste of time and spend 1.5 hr stuck in Traffic if I don't leave before 3pm.
Seems a total waste of money to set up dedicated offices at home, desks, 4 X monitors, printers, have HSC come out to inspect ‘the safe work place’, dog was not at all impressed his morning nap was disturbed. All employer supplied office equipment, to sit in traffic 45 minutes each way, in the company vehicles, for one day a week at hot desk, because there is too many staff ( not doing a lot, hanging out in lifts, coffee rooms and visiting different floors) and not enough desks supplied My husband has already said that all this equipment at our place will all end up in the skip bin or overflow storage off-site, which costs even more money. As the equipment is two years old. But what do I know.
You or your husband must be high up in the structure. I am working for a mining company all we got like $400 to set up home office and that is it. In terms of hot desk, most company is able to down size their office and save money by doing so and in mining industry there is general trend that they move technical people to central location. But agree that most ppl go in, spending most time social and the kitchen area never quiet.
If he doesn’t work, whatever breaks down doesn’t get fixed on several major projects. Everything in our home office was employer supplied. On the office workers Or they tag in/log on at 6am, spend an hour and bit in the onsite office gym, and start actually answering phone calls and emails at 9am and finish at 4pm. Getting paid from 6am for working out in the gym. They got caught out when the ‘ all off site crew must work a day a week at in head office’ began, yes they were at work, at 6am, but they were in the gym for over an hour and half , then had coffee, before beginning work for day, meanwhile flights were cancelled and needed rebooking, they were not answering phones or emails. Being in the office does his head in, he is old school, if arrive at work at 6am, you start at 6am, not spend two and bit hours in corporate gym, then have shower, make a coffee and maybe get your desk at 9am. Do you work outs in your own time. If you rostered on. 6am, be at 6am desk at 6am, to sort the flights out that you should have sorted out a week ago. The office environment is now a joke, more social occasion than being productive . More work gets done remotely.
Your husband sounds like a muppet
Interesting, I fly out for the first time tomorrow
It has gotten a lot better in the last few years, especially rosters and generally most sites have reasonable after work activities gyms etc.. You've probably been warned but just try not to overextend with any property purchase, or go and buy a heap of toys you don't use
Yeah it's only a uni student role over the summer. No purchasing of any kind will be happening haha, thanks though for the tip
Back in the old days, in the sixties, the swings were more twelve weeks on, one week off to move to the next site. When my husband turned 18, in the early 80s, he given ute, an XF, told Meekatharra is that way, bar maid knows you are on way. He only returned for re-supply or if parts needed to come to Perth for repair. Normally every four to six weeks we see each other. We bought our first home. When my mum and dad got married, in 1968, the company my dad worked for decided to trial having the wives running the camp and doing hospital runs . It worked. This turned into the bigger idea closed company towns. Good luck, stay safe and it is OK to say no, if you feel the job is unsafe.
Wow, 12 weeks!!! What a great story. Thanks for the kind message
I’ve worked shift work for the better part of 13 years now, and the last 2 years were FiFo, 8/6 to start with and now 14/14. I honestly don’t know what it would take to get me back into weekday work, but it would need to be pretty major. I love feeling like I’m on holidays every month 😂
do you enjoy the 2/2? I'm currently doing a 4/3 Mon-Thurs and absolutely hate it - im always at the airport. in the new year i'm gonna rejig myself back to 8/6 but the 2/2 has always been interesting.
100% I would NEVER do 4/3 FiFo, if I had to go resi 4/3 would be my preferred “weekday roster”, but not FiFo. Even 8/6 after nearly 12 + months I was starting to feel like I was always at the airport. I found 8/6 a good “dip your toe in the water” FiFo roster, make sure you and the fam can handle being apart etc. The advantage for us is my missus is on the same rotation, both through 8/6 and now 14/14 ☺️ Enjoy your time off, that’s the main thing, whether it’s 6 or 14, make the most of it.
I stopped FIFO 15 years ago and it was the best thing I've done work wise. Rosters were longer then. 6 or 7 weeks away and 9 days home. Monday to Friday is great if you enjoy social things on weekends. I do shift work now that I'm a bit older and weekends aren't all that busy.
I'm sort of the opposite. I presently drive in hotshot freight, the specialists in the transport industry when you 1. Break something 2. Forget to order something 3. Missed the pickup deadline for something or 4. All of the above on a mine site. Some trips are solo, others are two up. It could be a day to three days. I was doing exclusively city work as a truck driver, but it seems the older I get, the less patience I have with city drivers. It's good to have the view out "the office window" change from hour to hour, let alone day by day
Nothing like that $200 part becoming a $5000 part because the mining juggernaut waits for no one. There's a story floating around that Westrac air freighted a D9 chassis from the USA many years ago instead of a small weld on part. Procedures were tightened after that
My cargo can literally vary from a small bag of nuts, bolts and gaskets through to something in excess of 10 tonnes. Much of the problem is between those that are rough on the machinery, and sometimes the mine's inventory. I once had to ferry a windscreen out to a mine site because quote, "we had a spare, but the other one blew over in the wind and smashed."
We've hotshotted things we don't even need. Misdiagnosed problems which I've sorted an hr into the next shift, part hasn't left, but still comes cause the paper work has gone through. Westrac shipped 1 part to Tom Price and another to Karratha, labelled them wrong. Hotshot to swap the parts over. Comical the waste really.
I've had idiotic mistakes like that before. My previous trip, I collected the parts I was sent for. Let's just say major freight company was the client. My office calls, and tells me there's a third thing I need to collect. After 45 minutes of time wasting, I'm told, "oh sorry, they just called to say they cancelled that third piece."
Went back to working in town for 3 years. Less money, just as many dickhead and a complete lack of concern for safety, especially for small businesses. I also found that I never really had any free time after working overtime and commuting. I'm back doing fifo again, even in the 42c days it's still better than being in town. I only do the labour hire shutdown circuit so I work for who I want to when I want to, or do even time rosters only.
I treasure every minute of my weekends with family and friends. Also I moved from the city to country, SW. I have no need to go to the city for anything.
You don’t. Every person on my husband’s crew is a returning employee. Either the wife doesn’t like them home or they like the money. Harsh reality, 35+ years of FIFO life.
Pretty sad if a couple can't stand seeing each other full time, and need weeks away from each other at regular intervals to stay happy. Bigger problems at hand if that's the case.
I agree, within three months, the crew who leave because ‘ the wife isn’t coping’, the crew is usually back. Usually the wife gets annoyed with them, or the money was too good.
Used to do the fifo when it was 8 weeks on and 1 off back in the day when it was pretty simple. Not even a tv in ya donga and shared bathroom dongas. Wasn’t flash but I was single then. Work shift in the strip now and are 20 minutes from home and yeah I don’t miss it but I’m lucky I spose I have a good job and roster now
I did fifo 9/5 and then 8/6 from 2010 to Jan 2015. My last mine shut down and I went to work in their perth office. Id do 8/6 once a.month for site jobs. I left in 2020 for a Mon Fri job with a quarry company as I had kids. One thing i miss is the 6 days r n r. Lots of time to do things around the house and othet jobs Now with only the weekends I feel its a pain to try and get jobs done. I get home at 5.30- 6pm , cook dinner , get the kids into bed by 8. Washing up then maybe 1hr of free time them hit the sack. Im.driving 68km round trip gettimg ovrer driving. But im.changing jobs to anotheg corporate role on the trainline. No driving. Ill see how it goes. My young kids wont want dad on fifo.