IIM graduate posts How much rupees did the plumber charge for 15 minutes of work? What did the plumber claim about his daily and monthly earnings? Why did many people on social media question the earning figures of plumbers?
Plumber Income: A post made by an IIM graduate on X (formerly Twitter) has sparked a new debate on social media. People are now comparing the salaries of skilled artisans and professionals working in corporate companies. This whole discussion started when this user mentioned his conversation with a plumber from Delhi. Hearing the income reported by the plumber, many people have started to feel that some skilled workers may be earning equal to or more than the employed people.
According to this post that went viral, the user had called a plumber to get a new tap installed in the house and fix the shower. The plumber finished the work in about 15 minutes and charged Rs 700 for it. During the conversation, the plumber reportedly told that he does 5-6 such works every day, which brings his daily earning to Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 from plumbing alone.
The plumber also told that apart from plumbing, he also does electrical work and AC servicing and installation during the season. According to him, in summer he does 2-3 work related to AC every day and for each work he gets Rs 1,000 to 3,000.
Based on these figures, the The user further wrote that the value of works like plumbing, electrical and AC repair is increasing and there is no threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on these.
As soon as this post went viral, many people raised questions about the veracity of these earning figures. Many people dismissed these figures as inaccurate, saying that they ignored the uncertainty of freelance work. One user wrote that these figures are “complete nonsense” as most plumbers do not save more than Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000 a month. The user also argued that it is often not possible for an artisan to go to different places and complete multiple tasks in a single day and it is not necessary that they get work every day.
At the same time, some people turned the debate towards tax. In one comment it was said that many employed people are angry with the fact that many skilled artisans take payment in cash, while tax is deducted directly from the salaries of white-collar people i.e. office workers.