Coles worker stuns after revealing insane amount he is paid for ‘mindless’ job

A young man has left Aussies stunned after revealing the shocking hourly rate he receives for stocking shelves at Coles.

The student, who was interviewed by jobs app Getahead, said he is paid $40 an hour while stocking the supermarket in Toowong in Brisbane’s south-west.

He said working the night shift, three times a week between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., means he gets paid about $8 more than those who stock shelves during the day.

“The pay is pretty good for the lack of skills you need,” he said in a TikTok video.

“It’s also just mindless, you go in, you listen to music (and) put some Coke on the shelves.”

Coles’ Retail Enterprise Agreement increases the percentage of temporary staff by 50 per cent for work between 6pm and 11pm on weekdays, while full-time and part-time receive just 25 per cent.

Those rates will increase by another 25 percent for all hours on Sundays, meaning casuals will get 75 percent of the charge, while full-time and part-time get 50 percent.

The pay is about $16 an hour more than minimum wage and Aussies are shocked at how easy the role is.

“He makes the same thing I do when I stand for ten hours straight, without sitting down and with constant interaction with the customer,” one TikTok user wrote.

A second social media user said there was “no way” he earned that much at his job.

“(I) used to work for Woolies Night Fill and I was on 22 base and took off just after 8pm,” they wrote.

But another user replied saying: ‘had an interview for Coles and the base rate was $32 (and) $8 for nights seems about right’.

“Woolworths and Coles nightfill are making money,” one Instagram user wrote.

Even if the student only works 20 hours a week, their $20,000 income would still be more than that of the average Australian student, research by Finder.

The study, released in November, found that the average student has an income of just over $16,000, putting them well below the poverty line of $612.47.

It also means that students can only contribute about $300 a month to their savings, a fraction of full-time workers of about the same age.

The generous pay is due to his salary being increased by as much as 50 percent for working after 8 p.m., according to the supermarket’s enterprise agreement (stock image)

The financial strains combined with the full-time workload at university have also led to a serious decline in the overall happiness of students compared to full-time employees.

While we can only speculate about the various factors that may make full-time employees happier than students, research consistently shows a link between overall happiness and financial security.” Finder analyst Sophie Wallis said.

‘Finder’s data shows that students’ most stressful expenses are rent or mortgage payments, groceries, petrol and their mobile phone bill.

‘Students who rent are also more likely to say they have difficulty paying the rent than students who work full-time.’

However, their struggle doesn’t end after leaving college, with recent indexations increasing the total amount of student debt to a whopping $185.6 billion.

“Since 2012, average outstanding debt has increased by 86 percent, while the consumer price index (CPI) – a measure of the cost of goods and services – has grown by 19 percent over the same period,” Wallis said.

“In addition, the percentage of people with more than $40,000 in debt has doubled, from 11 percent in 2012 to 29 percent in 2023.”