FIFO worker gives a VERY honest account of what it’s like to work in the industry – and reveals the one thing that forced him to quit the job altogether
- FIFO worker has given a raw and honest account of what life is like in his industry
- Gold Coast father Jerra Rowe said he has worked as a FIFO for the past 10 years
- But after the birth of his son said he started suffering depression and anxiety
- ‘It nearly broke me – I had no choice but to quit,’ father said in emotional video
- Candid mental health admission has gone viral online with almost 40,000 shares
A FIFO worker has provided a raw account of what life is like working in his industry and revealed the mental health struggles that forced him to quit his job completely.
Gold Coast father Jerra Rowe said he had worked on mining projects for the past 10 years across Queensland and Western Australia.
But after the birth of his son he said he started suffering from homesickness, depression and anxiety each time he had to leave his family.
A FIFO worker has provided a raw account of his life in the industry – and revealed how the struggle of having a young family forced him to quit his job
Sharing his story on TikTok, Mr Rowe said he felt he had to keep going to provide for his young family but the emotional toll of each stint took too much of a toll.
‘I worked fly-in fly-out for 10 years but after my son was born I started to suffer from anxiety and depression when flying back to work,’ he said.
‘It nearly broke me so I had no choice but to quit – I’ve never felt so much relief.’
In an emotionally-charged montage he said he now gets to see his son every day after starting a new job as an electrical supervisor 15 minutes away from his home at the Gold Coast’s Wet’n’Wild water park.
‘I’m not the best talker but luckily I manned up and spoke about how I was feeling,’ he said.
‘You feel you have a responsibility to provide a good life financially for your family but is it at a cost mentally?’
The video has gone viral with 39,00 shares since being posted on the social media platform, with many other FIFO workers commenting about the pain of having to leave home to do their job.
He said he felt he had to keep going to work as a fly-in fly-out worker to provide for young family but the emotional toll of leaving his baby son soon became overbearing
In an emotionally-charged montage he said he now gets to see his son every day after starting a new job as an electrical supervisor 15 minutes away from his home
‘I wish [I could quit] but with bills and five kids and one on the way I can’t stop but work,’ one person wrote.
‘The youngest cries when I leave and tries to hold my legs – it breaks me.’
‘Brother I have never felt depressed or anxious until my daughter was born while I worked as a FIFO,’ another said.
‘I lasted one swing back and have gone home happy ever since.’