General construction worker in Yerevan: the site, the shift, the pay

What a general worker does

A general worker is not a bricklayer, a welder or an electrician. You are the person who makes it possible for them to work: carrying and stacking material, mixing and moving mortar and concrete, digging and backfilling, stripping and cleaning formwork, loading waste, sweeping the floor a trade has just finished with.

If you already have a trade, say so on the call. Armenian sites are short of finishers, tilers, rebar fixers and formwork carpenters, and a man who can prove a trade moves off general duties quickly, with the pay following.

The shift, hour by hour

1. 07:30 — Arrive, change, sign in. The foreman gives the crew the plan for the day and the safety brief for whatever is being lifted.
2. 08:00 — First block of work. Usually the heaviest: unloading a delivery, moving blocks and bags to the floor where they are needed.
3. 10:30 — Short break. Tea, bread, cigarettes for those who smoke.
4. 10:45 to 13:00 — Supporting the trades. Mixing, feeding the concrete pour, holding and fixing formwork, digging where the machine cannot reach.
5. 13:00 — Lunch, an hour. Many employers pay for a canteen meal or give an allowance.
6. 14:00 to 17:30 — Second half: stripping formwork, cleaning it, stacking it, carrying waste to the skip, preparing tomorrow’s material.
7. 17:30 — Tools away, site swept, sign out. Overtime happens before a pour or a deadline and is paid separately.

What the crew expects from a newcomer

• Turn up on time, every day. On a site, a man who is late once a week is a problem for six other people.
• Wear the helmet, boots and vest. Armenian sites are inspected, and the employer loses money if you are not dressed.
• Learn the twenty words of Russian or Armenian that matter: numbers, up, down, stop, water, careful, more, enough.
• Ask before you lift something heavy alone. Nobody is impressed by an injury in week one.
• Keep your own area clean. It is the fastest way to be trusted.

The hard parts, stated plainly

• Weather. Yerevan summers are dry and very hot; winters are cold and the site keeps working.
• Dust and noise all day, and stairs — many buildings have no lift while the structure goes up.
• Physical load. The first fortnight hurts. After that your body settles into the rhythm.
• Deadlines. Before a concrete pour the day gets longer, and the crew stays until it is finished.

How the hiring runs

You apply to a named vacancy, fill in your passport data and upload two documents. We check them, hold a short video call, and then our legal partner prepares the work permit filing with the employer through the state system. The state decides. When the case is filed you get a document from us with your case number, and when the decision arrives we send it to you.

The best general workers on my site started with nothing but a willingness to carry. Two of them are foremen now.

A site manager in Yerevan, paraphrased

Before you apply

Bring proof of any trade you have — photos of your work, a certificate, a reference with a phone number. Be straight about what you can and cannot do. Construction is one of the few jobs where an honest answer on day one is worth more than a polished CV.