There's definitely a shearer shortage. It has been exacerbated by COVID restrictions on travel, but it was always going to be a problem anyway. It gets back to davids other thread on fruit picking.
Shearing IS very hard work and definitely not a job for the faint hearted or those unfamiliar with rural living. There are very few people who want to do hard, physical work now, regardless of the salary. A good shearer can easily make $3000 a week.
I did ten years of shearing when I left school and treated it as a well paid gym work out. Like most young shearers I was in prime, muscle bound physical condition and earned a huge salary for a lad. I could afford a new car and saved enough money to make a down payment on my first farm. Shearing is also very social as you travel around with work mates and friends and most farmers where very hospitable. The bigger sheds would often throw a " cut out " party at the end of the shed with wives and girlfriends coming along for a BBQ and drinks.
One place had a huge tree lined dam where we would catch fish to be cooked on the evening BBQ and tow each other around in truck tubes behind a dinghy.
Shearing also allowed me to travel to other regions, working in some of the bigger sheds with contractors. One contractor would take us drag net fishing on the first night we arrived. We would catch a bunch of fish, buy a bag of spuds and enjoy fish and chips for the next week.
It was hard work with early starts and very physically demanding, but I really enjoyed the time and would not change a thing for quids.
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