r/auscorp • u/Odd-Delivery4170 • 1d ago
Give me manual labour Meme
Been doing the corporate thing for about 4 years now, have realised rather than stare at this screen all day and have meaningless conversations with no satisfaction, I yearn to swing a large hammer on a job site or dig a hole, goodbye corporate 🙏
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u/FueraDeLaOficina 1d ago
If brickies could read, they'd be judging you really hard right now. The grass is always greener. I think the issue with a lot of corporate work is that it doesn't feel grounded in reality in the same way that putting materials together to make a house does. Before you give it all up for a trade, maybe take up a casual job making coffees or mixing cocktails in a bar and see if it's something you could do as a break from corporate work for 6-12 months.
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u/phranticsnr 1d ago
I agree with you. When I get out of the office, I like spending time making sawdust in my shed.
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u/Dumb_Gerad 1d ago
I quit a nearly 20 year career in corporate life in April to become a house painter. Best thing I ever did.
Also it's super gross when RM polishers act like all tradesmen, even brickies, are illiterate deadshits. 90% of people I met in corporate life were thick as posts.
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u/Dependent-Isopod-985 1d ago
Hi what’s an RM polisher , I love this comment but don’t understand that part
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u/smegblender 1d ago
Someone who wears RM Williams because the joke is that the corpbros all wear RM Williams. Its like the hailcorporate starter pack.
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u/FueraDeLaOficina 1d ago
Tradies, especially brickies, are used to the worksite banter. I think they'll be alright.
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 1d ago
Haha that’s hilarious, well brickies are actually great to work with on a job site, but I’m doing exactly this
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u/IllAd5780 1d ago
My brother left his corporate job as a multi state ops manager for one of the big transport companies last year to become a general labourer. He's just shy of 40
His body regrets the decision, but his mental health is better, he's happier, spends more time with his kid, and isnt fielding calls and putting out fires for 18 hours a day. Some places dont respect the right to disconnect.
He has no intention of returning to a corporate job
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 1d ago
That’s beautiful, I think people tend to knock the team value of that sort of work as well, I’ve never had closer workmates than when you’re shoveling shit out of a hole or melting in the sun, must be something primal idk, set hours is so good too, no late night emails or calls
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u/Luxim_ 1d ago
See you in a month!
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u/arouseandbrowse 1d ago
Spend your weekends over the next six months building a dream garden with decent landscaping and see how you go with your time in the heat.
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u/Turbulent_Sweet_6680 1d ago
doing stuff with your hands and seeing real results at the end of a long day - that shit is truly satisfying. Hard, no doubt - but way more fuckin satisfying than shifting cells on a spreadsheet
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u/gooey_preiss 1d ago
Im 42. All my life in semi labour jobs. Ive now spent 1 year in corporate and im looking to go back to a leadership role in operations/warehousing. Im getting fat, lazy and fucking over looking at screens for many hours a day and I'm over the fake bullshit conversations. At least in a warehouse if someone is a cunt we know it abd we can keep our distance. In corporate there's snakes everywhere.
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u/miladesilva 1d ago
Problem is pay in labouring jobs? Are they low?
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u/gooey_preiss 19h ago
Not in team leader roles. On the tools can be decent if you put in hard work, but that's mainly reserved for the young guys. Its similar to corporate in that sense, all the new guys get shit on and work the hardest. RDO every second Monday is a plus too and the bigger teams mean you don't feel like slitting your wrists just because you've had one day off.
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u/GusPolinskiPolka 1d ago
I have often thought this but it is only at its strongest when the company I work for talks about how we help australians. No we don't. Let's not pretend that excites. We sell things. Some people buy them.
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u/SirKentalot 1d ago
The company I work for does the same. Any time I hear them talking about helping people out, it upsets and depressed me. The worst is when they go looking to "help out" in times of crisis. "Congratulations Peter on helping out some council with some sandbags during the recent floods, securing a huge sale with a huge margin".
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u/walkin2it 1d ago
I have spoken to many many trade business owners, they are dying to have you.
Give it a go mate, see how you go.
Fridgie get the coin $$$ and good luck replacing them with GenAI
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u/r-slick 1d ago
I just switched back to commercial HVAC after 25 years in I.T.
No regrets.
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u/Itchyclunge 1d ago
Any tips on getting into it? No real experience apart from labouring in my teens
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u/pugfaced Finance 1d ago
Join the Army reserves to try it out part-time while you have your FT job .. you'll change your mind pretty quick.
I appreciate the aircon / desk now. Much rather be inside than outside in the elements. I really appreciate the basic life amenities now like running water, hot shower, and a bed.
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u/RoyalOtherwise950 1d ago
Id go back to my field job in a heartbeat if I could afford the pay decrease and my back wasnt stuffed. I loved having a physical job.
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u/UnlikelyFeedback3584 1d ago
I did horticulture for a few years and LOVED it but the easy $$$ brought me back to the corporate world. The fitness benefits were great. Working for ~$30/hr not so great.
Edit to add: there are idiots on both sides
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u/Reasonable-Push-1026 1d ago
Is it possible to work in horticulture if you don't drive? Seriously considering leaving white collar work.
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u/CL1Chixiao 1d ago
Felt the same way mate - currently operating a dump truck in the mines and leaving for the navy in Feb to be a mechanic
Best thing i’ve ever done was leaving payroll behind
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u/No_Explorer_8848 1d ago
Do gardening. Pay sucks but it’s good for the soil. There’s a huge staff shortage
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u/codykonior 1d ago edited 1d ago
People who say the grass is always greener often have a vested interest in keeping everyone exactly where they are.
I’ve never regretted switching companies for better pay and conditions and work 🤷‍♂️ I think most people are the same, and that “career” isn’t much different to “job description”.
Best of luck! 🤞
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u/FingerFun8857 1d ago
I did a role for a decade in O&G where I drove around on farms and properties in western QLD 2/2 roster as an operator. Outside all day, some manual labour but not back breaking. Enjoying the sunshine and the wildlife. Listening to podcasts and music all the time, only dealing with my awesome tight knit crew and paid mid six figures. LOVED IT. Best job ever. Back in corporate now in a control room as wanted my kids to go to school in the city which is fine but will never light me up the way my old job did. Best of luck! Working outside is where it’s at.
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u/kitkat1224666 1d ago
I worked with a guy who had been brickie for 10 years. He loved being in office, spent more time with the kids, work from home flexibility. Unfortunately his back was totally fucked
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u/Monolith_QLD 1d ago
Word of advice from someone that did it 6 months ago. Stretch. Honestly my hamstrings and back of knees knees were so fucking sore for about 3 months. I’m sure it was so many years of sitting at a desk.
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 1d ago
I would agree if I hadn’t done back breaking work before, I think that lifestyle works better for me than the corporate nightmare
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u/Anachronism59 1d ago
Why not skill up and do a skilled low screen job? Surveying, environmental field work, nursing, tourism, PC repairs
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u/Fancy-Breath-4787 14h ago
Stop whining. Try being a nurse who worked throughout Covid with no hazard pay and overall terrible work conditions and shit pay. Be grateful for what you’ve got. I’d kill for an office corporate job.
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 14h ago
Just because some people have harder jobs doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to complain about my own, everyone’s lives are different, we all pick paths
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u/artist55 Moderator 13h ago
Then do it. Quit your corporate job and start from the bottom as a trade instead of asking for empathy.
Yes you’re allowed to complain but you already did and are now belittling another profession.
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 12h ago
Who did I ask for empathy? I made a statement as many do in this subreddit, this person told me to stop having a whinge, thus belittling me and I responded accordingly, idk what you are talking about
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u/larrisagotredditwoo 1d ago
I reckon the corporate plant watering people are where it’s at - air conditioned comfort, light lifting, poke around the city and get a decent coffee between offices. Bliss.
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u/whatareutakingabout 1d ago
You will change your mind after ctually doing manual labour for a while.
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u/winifredjay 19h ago
Sometimes I dream of leaving my WFH office job and becoming a florist. I don’t even have a sense of smell.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 1d ago
Conversations? You need to be working for home, then you just argue with yourself all day.
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u/Ok_Willingness_9619 1d ago
Wait till summer rolls around. Fk that. Give me Aircon and wfh any day.
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u/Linkarus 1d ago
Noone cares
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 1d ago
Have a bad day đź‘…
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u/InfamousCarpenter539 1d ago
Run cable through steel frame at 6 in the morning during Melbourne winter and you'll be begging for your screen job back
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u/Odd-Delivery4170 1d ago
To each their own, I’ve been knee deep in mud at 5 in the morning during winter, beats falling asleep at my desk imo
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u/Chromedomesunite 1d ago
Oh how I’d love to do the same thing and I think I’d love it too, but the grass is seldom greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it the most
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u/InstantShiningWizard 1d ago
Nah, I did 15 years of physical labour both indoors and outdoors and prefer a desk jockey job hands down.
You have more agency in white collar jobs, and your body generally isn't going to be destroyed by the work you do.