chef

cook

head chef

mechanic

housing manager

Sodexo

Although I am grateful for the people I have met during my time with Sodexo—working across multiple sites and regions of the Pilbara—it has come at a high cost to my mental health and sanity.
What was sold to me as a safe and structured day-to-day operational environment couldn't be further from the truth. I was frequently booked by my scheduler for a specific department, only to arrive and find out that site management had assigned me to a completely different role. On occasion, I was even sent to a different site upon arrival, without prior consent or confirmation. Imagine applying for a baking job that matches your experience, only to be sent off to do plumbing instead.
The 12-hour shifts themselves weren’t an issue once I got into my routine. The real problem was the sudden changes—being told with no notice that my shift had been extended to 14 hours, with a completely different start time, and without anyone asking if I was okay with it (especially in the tavern & retail department).
Housekeeping was another nightmare. The expected 25 rooms per day is simply impossible to complete. You’re required to do a breathalyser test before starting, sometimes in a completely different area of the camp from where the pre-start meeting is held. By the time you get through pre-start meetings, stretches, and collecting your run sheets, trolley checklist, and keys, you’re already at least 30 minutes behind on your highly micromanaged schedule.
Injury reporting, on paper, appears to be a well-structured procedure, but in practice, it is poorly managed. Communication between management and the staff responsible for arranging medical treatment is disorganised, and the reduced duties assigned to injured workers create an enormous strain on the rest of the team. Instead of proper injury management, their workload is simply split up and dumped onto already overworked staff, increasing both stress and the risk of further injuries. Injured workers often feel guilty or ostracised by their colleagues, who are forced to take on extra tasks.
To make matters worse, access to medical care is extremely limited. Remote village camps do not have doctors, pharmacies, or proper clinics. Instead, you’re left waiting to be seen by mining nurses or physiotherapists, who are either based at construction sites or rotate between different camps. Proper recovery is nearly impossible under these conditions.
Throughout my three years with the company (thankfully as a casual employee), I had to take multiple extended breaks—some lasting months—just to recover from the mental and physical toll of the job. This job is only suitable for short-term work if you’re trying to save money quickly for a specific goal. However, it is not sustainable as a long-term career. The exhausting 2-weeks-on, 1-week-off roster and toxic work environment make it nearly impossible to maintain any sense of balance in other essential areas of life, such as social connections, personal relationships, and health. It’s sold as a competitive roster, which is nonsense, considering other similar companies have transferred to a 1-week-on, 1-week-off roster.

For neurodivergent workers, this job is an absolute minefield. The constant last-minute changes, lack of clear communication, and expectation to adapt instantly to new environments create an overwhelming and unpredictable work setting. Routine is impossible, executive dysfunction is constantly triggered, and sensory overload is unavoidable. The culture of overworking staff without support further exacerbates burnout.
Many employees—diagnosed or not—likely struggle in ways they don’t fully understand, attributing their stress to personal failure rather than an environment that is actively working against them. The FIFO industry already pushes workers to their mental and physical limits, but Sodexo’s complete disregard for structure, consistency, and well-being makes it particularly unbearable for those who need any form of predictability to function effectively.
If you are neurodivergent, or even just someone who values mental stability, I strongly advise against working for Sodexo. The chaotic and disorganised nature of the job, combined with the toxic work culture, is not worth the toll it takes on your health.

Hospitality is a hard job, but if you are a social, bubbly person like me, you will love it regardless. 
A typical event at the Races could mean only 2 15 minute breaks if you are lucky. You can't smoke during this time which would seem like a negative, but when you are serving customers up close and personal, the last thing they need to get a whiff of - especially the money they are forking out for top notch service, is an ashtray(fair point right?) 
You need to be Customer Minded and Patient for this type of work. No-one wants a sour pus serving their meals. A smile costs nothing, but could earn you plenty rewards, so it is up to you. 
The Management have always been fair minded and fun. You get what you give, so give your best. 
Hardest part of the job is the breaks and long hours, but the most enjoyable part is having fun with the staff and customers. If you have the gift of the gab and great at up-selling, then you will reap the rewards(I won't say how, you will need to find that out for yourself). 
I loved this job, but having young kids to come back to after a long shift was not great. 

With this job though, you have the choice of where you want to work and if you have a car, you can travel to some fantastic places. Even if you don't have a car, you can usually find staff whom are will to give you a lift. 
It's not always roses, but for me, it was. I loved it and definitely recommend if you want to put the hours in and makes some good money. I will also say, unless you can travel all over Scotland/England, this is not a permanent fixture and you aren't guaranteed security. There is work if you want to find it though. 
Perfect for Students or Single People with no children and a car!

I would open my office at 0500 each day and check emails for any out of schedule maintenance and service requests, I would then visit all employees at their designated areas to check there were no problems for the days tasks and their well-being. At 0630 I would conduct a safety and information meeting with all staff in my department.  At 0900 I would meet the client for information meeting,either Woodside rep or Woorley Parsons rep.From 1000 I would attend various management meetings with other departments,outside contractors and Sodexo managers.During the afternoon I would check all ordering for parts required for maintenance tasks were correct,all tasks being performed were being carried out well and safely,all services were operating correctly and the general condition of all staff and the camp facilities were ok and any out of schedule maintenance was being attended to by the right personnel. All departments were checked for quality of work.
The dealing with a large variety of personalities was the area I learned most, and getting people that were not suited for the position to be able to work with in a team successfully. The hardest part of the position was the lack of support from the HR department based in Perth but fully understand their frustration in getting the right personnel.The most enjoyable aspects of the position were the people I worked with and the challenges of keeping a 2000 man camp operating on a daily basis, which included power, water, sewage,food and beverage supply, security, fitness and health,gardens and outside recreation areas and traffic and roads with in the camp and the client.

what i did in a typical day was to change about 20-30 room,
i would go doubble check my trolly make sure it was stacked correctly, make sure i have the right chamicals, then i would go get my list of rooms from the manager, would start at the furthest room away then change the beds making sure all 3 points were clear to do so then i would dust the room, turn off all eletric powerpoints except the fridge and check if all cords were in date, would check filters of air conditioners, then i would go dust, i would then move on to the bathroom using 3 different types of cloths do the basin (infront, middle and behind) then do the shower (scrubbing the sides, walls and tops of the shower) then the toilet (behind, middle and infront) and mirrors, if any marks on the wall clean them up to and then either vaccum or sweep the floor depending on what surface it was.i If it was a quiet day would do windows as well.
i learnt how to get quicker and what chemicals to use on what sections, how to take fly screens out without breaking them.
time management was essentional, worked well with others changing half way from beds to bathrooms so that its fair!
hardest part is that after doing it without warming up back problems are more likely to appear.
to challange myself to see how i can improve my work and to have fun while doing it

A typical day at work for me isn't as pleasant as I would like it to be. It generally starts with setting everything up in the dining room only to be told that I should of done it a different way because the way I always do it is wrong because it isn't the way the other staff do it.

I learnt how to set up a dining room for a function and how to set up the tables for fine dining. 

The managers, I found, to be very unprofessional and at times inappropriate with, not only the staff, but also the customers.
On more then one occasion I seen the manager reprimand staff not only in front of other staff but the customers as well. I myself have been reprimanded in front of a full dining room.
She has also helped stir rumours about a staff member and a married customer.

My co-workers were no better than management in the aspect of starting and stirring rumours that could potentially cause problems for multiple people.

The hardest part of the job is dealing with other staff and management.

The most enjoyable part of the job would be having the customers appreciate the work that I do, whether it be getting them a drink at the bar or serving them their dinner in the dining room.
Knowing that they are friendly no matter what they may hear and just having a chat with them.

Worked as a service attendant. Getting thrown in different departments almost every swing was okay until i wanted something secure. Asked about staying in one department but then got told that "you're a service attendant and you serve where you're needed, not where you want to be".Some village managers only care for themselves and their own purple circle. The days are only bearable if you had a good group of friends for support. A lot of sodexo sites have their own downfalls but seems to me that the thing that they all had in common was having a "purple circle". A group of people who are close to the people with high positions. Get away with whatever they wanted no matter how disturbing/ridiculous. Permanent staff turnover is high. A lot of the time there are more casual staff making it an unreliable environment with you training them and falling back on your own work. Taking your lunch breaks are sometimes frowned upon considering you might be overloaded with work/tasks even if you have a good sense on time management. 

All in all, more cons than pros. Would only recommend if you're first starting fifo and using it as a stepping stone to go into something bigger and better.

If your thinking of going for a job at Sodexo then forget about it. You will be underpaid when and if you actually get paid, over worked every week, unappreciated, chewed up and spat out. No matter what you do you won't be recognised for your efforts. The recognition benefits are bs.
No regard for employee health or daily needs just the bottom line. Hence the high turnover of staff. You will be screwed for every penny but expected to do more and more. You would be better off picking up rubbish on the freeways.
Check your employee contracts as they will slip in the fine print about being overworked and underpaid. Whipped to work.
Management have big titles but little idea about what they are doing. Not sure how they get dressed in the morning. 
Not sure where they are found but it's amazing watching them fake it before they kinda make it!
If you value employee benefits and a good workplace culture then stay away.
Work for anyone else.


What is the best part of working at the company?
Supporting RTIO facilities and community

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Due to low balling contracts, have to deal with stingy management and not getting things done for staff and client in a timely manner... frustrating. Lack of discipline and business ethics when dealing with staff

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The staff make all the difference. If they trained supervisors properly instead of running around like headless chooks, then a more professional service could be delivered. Sending emails putting down supervisors when the leadership is the guilty party (as not doing their jobs) was humerous especially when the line manager shouldn't have forwarded emails.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Office work and little leadership outside of the office with the trades team. More like a service administrator job disguised as a supervisor job without the pay of two titles....

What is the best part of working at the company?
They have Leaders in position with no people / leadership skills to fill the positions. Friends are employed often without the skills to fill positions. 
HR actually said to me if I'm not happy with my Leader that anyone can leave the company and Sodexo does not have a hold on them to stay. The HR person also said my Leader was not a leader.
No empathy and compassion leadership.
Joining a Union is recommended to protect you.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of support from HR. Leadership put in place with little or no people skills. Expect to work 50 hours on a 38 hour salary with no time in lieu or renumeration.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
What they preach in their training about no bullying, respect etc is only from the mouth and not put into practice. HR is their to protect the company and not the employee.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Lots of work and extra hours required. Watching my back as my Leader would look for faults for criticism to me. Very little praise.

My Offshore work was 12hr days, 2 weeks on/2 weeks off.
I would cook lunch, dinner, morning and afternoon teas, make bread, cakes, biscuits, hot and cold desserts, cleaning and camp duties as required. I was responsible for managing the catering and cleaning on site including all paperwork, stocktake, storerooms and stock rotation, food safety, supervising and mentoring staff. I worked closely with the Platform Supervisor to make sure our services ran smoothly and any special needs were catered for.
I improved my time management skills and working on oil & gas platforms also improved my safety awareness and commitment. Fortunately I had supportive management onshore and very good co-workers who helped keep our operation running smoothly to a high level. I work to high standards so the hardest part of the job was actually turning off and to stop doing more. The most enjoyable job aspect was exceeding clients' expectations whilst staying within budget to keep my company happy.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Chef 17 salaries reported	$94,675 per year
Cook 15 salaries reported	$90,001 per year
Head chef 9 salaries reported	$106,843 per year
Mechanic 8 salaries reported	$131,322 per year
Housing manager 4 salaries reported	$105,000 per year

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