06-04-2025
Tradie boss wages war on promise of $10,000-a-week pay fuelling apprentice dropout crisis
A tradie boss has exposed a disturbing social media trend contributing to the Australian apprenticeship exodus. There were roughly 2,000 fewer apprentices last year compared to 2023 and 25,000 fewer non-trade roles like labourers, according to the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research.
Corey Tomkins, the head of a Brisbane-based carpentry and construction business, said there are many factors to blame for tradies dropping out. But he told Yahoo Finance one really riles him up.
"If you jump on TikTok or other social media apps, there are so many guys preaching to get out of the trade," he said.
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"They'll say, 'It's s**t, and it's s**t money and sign up to my course, and I'll show you how to make $10,000 a day'.'
He said apprentices are already battling low wages in the cost-of-living crisis and believed claims made in these social media videos are very dubious.
Some online spruikers, some of whom claim they used to be an apprentice or a tradie, suggest you can make thousands of dollars through affiliate marketing, appointment setting, day trading on the stock market, or through other means.
They claim in some scenarios you only need to work a few hours a day and can be rolling in cash, compared to toughing it out in the heat on a construction feared it's encouraging many young-wannabe tradies to down tools forever in the hope of getting rich fast.
"You're slapped in the face with it from 4:30am when you wake up, all the way until your head hits the pillow at 10pm with all these people just drilling in your head and showing you all this fake stuff," he told Yahoo Finance.
"The hardest part for these guys now is the mental load that they have to withstand getting absolutely hounded across every platform telling them to leave their apprenticeship and go and earn better money sitting on the couch day trading."
The Ideal Group Australia director said he constantly tells his team of 20 workers, half of whom are apprentices, to keep their heads down and not listen to what they see on social media.
Tomkins admitted that apprentice salaries desperately needed an increase and called on the Fair Work Commission to raise the minimum pay rates.
Wages will depend on which trade you pick as well as your age, but you could be pulling in as little as $13.58 per hour based on a 38-hour week, or $26,858 per year, in your first year.
With the cost of rent, groceries, utility bills, and seemingly everything else increasing, the Queensland tradie said it's no wonder many apprentices are dropping out.
He has heard stories of young apprentices bailing on their trade to earn $40 an hour as a security guard.
While Tomkins wasn't dissing that as a job, he said there is far more career and salary progression by sticking through the hard times as an apprentice.
"You'll just end up being in your mid-20s, jumping from job to job because you're letting all this stuff infiltrate what you originally set out to do," he said.
"Whenever I get guys coming in, I really try to push it into their heads that you're not doing this to make a s**t-ton of money at the start. It's a career job. You learn the ropes, you stay in the game, you enjoy it, you work your way up, and eventually, you'll earn that better money."
While you might only earn $13.58 per hour in your first year, that money gradually increases each year during your apprenticeship, and it goes up far more when you're fully qualified.
For example, an apprentice electrician who hasn't finished high school and is under 21 will start on $14.62 per hour or $555.63 per week.
That'll jump to $23.61 per hour in their fourth year or $897.27 per week.
"It's actually a very, very, very rewarding thing to get into," Tomkins added. "Yes, it's hard, but everything that is worthwhile is hard."
If you've seen videos from people on social media claiming they're pulling in $10,000 a week, take their advice with a grain of salt.
"One of the most common misleading aspects of TikTok videos on affiliate marketing and drop shipping is the portrayal of these side hustles as 'easy money' ventures that require minimal effort," Mark Slack, career expert with told Yahoo Finance.
"Many creators emphasise high earnings potential, often showing off screenshots of five-figure monthly incomes, but they tend to gloss over the challenges involved."
Slack said their study found that 15 per cent of TikTok videos promoting side hustles "contained misleading or exaggerated claims" and affiliate marketing and drop-shipping were the top offenders.
He said there is money to be made from some, but stressed that it's not as easy as some suggest.
You might need to plunge more than 40 hours a week into the gig, and there's a possibility you might not make much money until months or even years after you start.
The National Centre for Vocational Education and Research's data revealed there was a 7.1 per cent fall in the number of apprentices compared to 2023.
There was also a 13.3 per cent dropout for female apprentices and trainees in training.
Every state and territory suffered from the grim trend:
NSW: Down 8.4 per cent since June 2023
Queensland: Down 4.7 per cent
Victoria: Down 8.1 per cent
ACT: Down 17.9 per cent
Northern Territory: Down 4.8 per cent
South Australia: Down 9.1 per cent
Tasmania: Down 10.2 per cent
Western Australia: Down 4.1 per cent
