Post Office recruits ÖSV talents to branches

Austrian Post AG is launching a new employment model for domestic winter sports talents: Seven athletes from the Austrian Ski Federation will work up to 20 hours per week in post offices, combining professional experience with their sporting careers; more are expected to follow.

To start, the postal service is sponsoring the following Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) talents:

• Emilia Herzgsell , 20 years old, ski racer from Salzburg

• Felix Endstrasser , 22 years old, ski racer from Tyrol

• Hannah Wiegele , 24 years old, ski jumper from Carinthia

• Johannes Pölz , 20 years old, ski jumper from Vorarlberg

• Meghann Wadsak , 18 years old, ski jumper from Vienna

• Niklas Bachlinger , 24 years old, ski jumper from Vorarlberg

• Pia Hauzenberger , 20 years old, ski racer from Upper Austria

Facts at a glance

• Austrian Post AG is launching an employment model for winter sports talents from the Austrian Ski Federation.

• Measure: Seven ÖSV athletes will in future work up to 20 hours per week in post offices, combining professional practice with their sporting career.

• Benefits: Predictable income base, stable framework conditions and flexible working hours to reconcile training and competition.

• Deployment: Athletes from alpine skiing and ski jumping in branches in Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Austria

• Participants: Emilia Herzgsell, Felix Endstrasser, Hannah Wiegele, Johannes Pölz, Meghann Wadsak, Niklas Bachlinger and Pia Hauzenberger

Employment with the postal service offers a predictable income and stable working conditions – key factors for many athletes during a crucial phase of their careers. At the same time, the postal service allows for flexible working hours to best accommodate training and competition schedules.

“This cooperation with Austrian Post represents a significant step in the sustainable support of our athletes. The combination of financial and social security, as well as the necessary flexibility for training and competition, creates precisely the stability that top-level sport requires. Especially during the sensitive phase between junior and world-class athletes, talented athletes need an environment in which education and sport are not contradictory, but rather complement each other,” explained Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) President Roswitha Stadlober .

Peter Umundum, Deputy Director General, Board Member for Parcel & Logistics, Austrian Post AG said “The cooperation between the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) and Austrian Post is a classic win-win situation: The young athletes receive stability and security so they can fully concentrate on their training. At the same time, we gain new branch employees who can flexibly support our teams. As an enthusiastic athlete myself, I know how crucial the right support behind the scenes is. I am therefore all the more pleased that we at the Post Office can make a concrete contribution.”

Michaela Schmidt , State Secretary for Sport: “Successful elite sport also needs prospects beyond the active career. Austria has created an internationally recognized model for this, from which more than 400 athletes already benefit. The fact that the postal service is now becoming part of this path sends a strong signal for the future of Austrian sport. Thank you very much!”

For the postal service, the focus is on reconciling professional life and elite sports. In addition to individual support for athletes, the new model also strengthens branch operations through additional support at high-traffic locations.

Niklas Bachlinger , Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) ski jumper said “The postal service gives me the opportunity to optimally combine my career and top-level sport. The flexible cooperation and social security provide me with the necessary security to continue to fully concentrate on training and competitions.”

Currently, seven young Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) athletes from the disciplines of alpine skiing and ski jumping are part of the new model and are working in branches in Tyrol, Salzburg, and Upper Austria. Many of them are at the beginning of their international careers and are simultaneously completing intensive training and competition programs. The model allows them to combine athletic development and professional practice in their everyday lives.