What the role really costs to employ, what the market is paying, and which licences actually gate it. Written for the employer doing the hiring.
This page is about taking a production worker onto your payroll, not about booking one for a job. A production worker on the award floor of $26.44 an hour costs about $60,399.69 a year once superannuation, leave loading and workers compensation are counted, against a wage of $52,245.44. That is roughly 15.6 per cent on top.
Award floor
$26.44
Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award (MA000010), effective 1 July 2026
Market band
$70,000 to $75,000
National advertised range, SEEK, refreshed 1 July 2026
Real annual cost
$60,399.69
At the award floor, full time, South Australian on-costs
The wage is the smallest honest answer. Worked at the award floor, full time, 38 hours a week:
| Line | How it is worked out | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Wages | $26.44 x 38 hours x 52 weeks | $52,245.44 |
| Annual leave loading | 17.5% of four weeks' wages | $703.30 |
| Superannuation | 12% of wages plus loading | $6,353.85 |
| Workers compensation | 1.85% of wages, loading and super | $1,097.10 |
| Real annual cost | Against a $52,245.44 wage | $60,399.69 |
Award floor from the Fair Work P.A.C.T summary for the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award (MA000010), effective 1 July 2026. Superannuation 12 per cent for 2026-27, ATO. Leave loading 17.5 per cent of four weeks, Fair Work Ombudsman. Workers compensation 1.85 per cent, ReturnToWorkSA scheme average, which varies by state and industry so use your own insurer's rate. Payroll tax is excluded because most employers sit below the threshold. Checked 5 August 2026. Full method on what an employee really costs.
That is the floor, not the offer. The market band above is what the role is actually advertised at, and an offer pitched near the legal minimum is the one experienced people scroll past. The full rate detail for this role has the classification ladder.
None. This is one of the few roles on this site with no ticket, licence or qualification gate at entry, which is precisely what makes it the entry point into manufacturing.
C13 is the common entry rung and it currently sits at exactly the national minimum wage, which is a useful fact: it means a production worker on C13 is on the lowest lawful wage in the country, and there is only one rung below them. C14 is the floor of the whole award.
| Classification | Hourly floor | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| C14 engineering/manufacturing employee level I | $25.74 | Base rate |
| C13 level II | $26.44 | Base rate |
| C12 level III | $27.08 | Base rate |
| C11 level IV | $27.97 | Base rate |
Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award (MA000010), adult full-time minimums effective 1 July 2026, from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guides. Casual loading of 25 per cent sits on top. Which classification applies is decided by the work actually performed, not by the job title.
Widening or narrowing the brief by one role often does more for a stalled vacancy than raising the rate. The nearest neighbours:
No entry qualification means a wide pool and high turnover, and the real cost sits in training and in the ramp-up before someone is productive rather than in finding them.
On the Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 Occupation Shortage List this role appears as no ANZSCO occupation assessed, not assessed. The Occupation Shortage List covers skill levels 1 to 4, and assembler and production labouring occupations sit at skill level 5, so they fall outside the assessment entirely. That is different from being rated as not in shortage. That is the national picture, not a claim about your town, and it is the reason an advertisement alone often does not produce a shortlist.
Pitching at C13 because it is lawful and wondering why nobody stays. It is the national minimum wage, and the roles competing for the same people are frequently paying above it. The second is not describing the physical demands honestly, which produces first week departures. The third is treating the induction as a formality on a site where the safety requirements are real.
Four checks before a name reaches you: licences verified, screened against your brief, history checked, rate locked. If one step fails, the name never reaches you. The whole process is written out here, including where reference checks actually sit.
You pay nothing until your hire starts, and if they leave inside the first 90 days we replace them free.
At the award floor of $26.44 an hour, about $60,399.69 a year once superannuation, leave loading and workers compensation are added, against a wage of $52,245.44. That is roughly 15.6 per cent on top of the wage. Payroll tax is excluded because most employers sit below the threshold.
The national advertised band is $70,000 to $75,000. The award floor of $26.44 is the legal minimum, not the market. An offer pitched near the floor is the most common reason a vacancy in this trade stays open.
C14 is the floor of the Manufacturing Award. C13, the common entry classification, currently sits at exactly the national minimum wage.
The Occupation Shortage List assesses skill levels 1 to 4. Production and assembly labouring sits at skill level 5, so it is not assessed at all, which is not the same as being found not in shortage.
No licence or qualification is required to start. Site specific induction and machine sign off are usually required.