‘Golden handcuffs’: Young electrician reveals insane yearly salary

A young Aussie has revealed her wild yearly salary after starting out working as an electrician when she was just 17 years old.

A young tradie has left social media users stunned after revealing her yearly salary as an electrician working in the mines.

In a video shared by jobs app, Getahead, the worker revealed she is an electrician by trade and makes about $165,000 a year working in the mines in Queensland.

“I started fresh out of school when I was 17, I got a job in the mines in north Queensland,” she said.

“Started from there, I am just a normal electrician but I work in the mines.”

She works 12.5 hour days, with a seven days on, seven days off work period.

According to job search platform, SEEK, the average annual salary for a tradie jobs in Australia in 2024 ranges from $75,000 to $95,000.

However, the average salary jumps to over $110,000 for tradespeople working in mining, resources and energy.

Asked how long she planned on staying in her role, she said it was a bit of a “tough” situation, as it can be hard to leave once to get used to having that high income.

“It is sort of like golden handcuffs in a way. Once you get attracted to that money it is kind of hard to leave,” the young worker said.

When she first started working in the mines at 17, she said there were not many other women in the industry, which she found challenging.

However, the tradie said that is now starting to change.

“You learn a lot, especially being so young and vulnerable. But there are more [women] coming and so it is really good to see,” she said.

The young worker revealed she earns about $165,000 a year. Picture: @getahead.app/TikTok

The term ‘golden handcuffs’ is used a lot when it comes to the mining industry. Picture: NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

The video quickly went viral, with the clip being viewed more than 1.4 million times on TikTok and gaining hundreds of comments.

Many social media users were gobsmacked to hear just how lucrative being a tradesperson in Australia can be, while others were praising her as an inspiration for other young women working in male dominated industries like mining.

“Super proud of her – what a trailblazer for young women who want to be electricians,” one person said.

“Love hearing this from a female in a male dominated industry,” another wrote.

Another person said they appreciated seeing more women taking on jobs in minding and trades, adding that it was “pretty good money for only working half of the year”.

One simply said: “Time to become an electrician I guess.”

Workers get used to the high salaries that come with working in the mines and, as a result, their lifestyle changes to match it. Picture: Supplied

The concept of the “golden handcuffs” is one that is commonly brought up by people working in the mining industry.

Essentially, it means workers quickly get used to earning very high salaries and, as a result, their lifestyles change to match what they are earning.

Because of this, even though someone may have only been planning to stay in the industry for a few years, they get locked in for a lot longer because they need that income to maintain their new lifestyle.

Carpenter Jared Deacon, who is from the UK but worked on remote mining sites in Australia, recently told news.com.au that people get “trapped” and then are “in denial about it”.

The 24-year-old said there is a trend of people “blowing” all their money during their weeks off because they aren’t happy working away from their family and friends, and so when they finally have free time, they want to let loose.

“The majority of people end up in golden handcuffs and get sucked into it,” he said.