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How to find a winter sports job in Austria

Working in winter sports in Austria is a dream for many people. Here's what you need to know about finding a job in the winter sports industry.

Published: 19 August 2021 17:38 CEST
Updated: 29 November 2023 14:19 CET
How to find a winter sports job in Austria
Skis on a chairlift at Zell am Ziller, Austria. Photo by Kipras Štreimikis on Unsplash

It’s no secret that tourism is an important industry in Austria – particularly the winter season. 

As a result, winter sports are an important contributor to the Austrian economy and a big employer.

This is mostly due to the geographic nature of Austria – a central European location with mountains and good international accessibility.

Austria has also invested heavily into infrastructure for winter sports, including snow making facilities. This means even during years with limited snowfall, resorts can still operate.

Even during the pandemic winter of 2020/2021, ski lifts still opened in Austria, although border restrictions prevented most tourists from entering the country to go skiing.

But how can people find a job in the winter sports industry in Austria? 

Here’s what you need to know.

 

People get off a chairlift at Neukirchen am Großvenediger, Austria. Photo by Maarten Duineveld on Unsplash

How big is the winter sports industry in Austria?

In the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2019, Austria was ranked at number 11 out of 50 countries around the world.

Sport is also a key economic driver in the country and in 2019 it contributed 4.2 percent to GDP in Austria, almost double the EU average of 2.12 percent.

In terms of employment in Austria, sport is even more prominent and accounts for 5.63 percent of GDP (EU average is 2.72 percent).

The result is a thriving sports tourism industry – with winter sports at the centre of it.

READ MORE: How will climate change impact Austria?

To provide a broader perspective, ski resorts in Austria attract more than one million visitors every winter season, and are more popular than resorts in France, Italy, US, Switzerland, Sweden and Andorra. 

In the winter of 2018/2019, 73 million overnight stays were recorded in Austria with winter tourists spending on average €184 per day, compared to €160 per day from summer tourists.

Winter sports gear and goods are another prominent sector in Austria.

In the 2018/2019 season, the Austrian Association of Sporting Goods Manufacturers and Suppliers (VSSÖ) reported Austria had a 12 percent market share of the industry, coming second only to the US.

Winter is big business in Austria and, even though the summer season is gaining in popularity, it is still expected to be the dominant season for the coming years.

A snowboarder jumps high at Stubai Zoo, Neustift im Stubaital, Austria. Photo by Jörg Angeli on Unsplash

Where are winter sports jobs located?

Depending on the type of winter sports job, most roles are located in the west of Austria in the Alps.

Resorts like Kitzbühel, Mayrhofen, St. Anton, Ischgl and Zell am See are some of the hotspots for attracting tourists and generating winter season jobs.

Then there are smaller places like Söll and St. Johann in Tyrol, both of which offer the opportunity to live and work in traditional Austrian mountain towns.

Clare Woolner, from Manchester in the UK, first spent a winter season in St. Johann in 2013 as a resort rep and went on to work seven seasons before changing careers in 2020. 

Clare, who still lives in St. Johann, told The Local she chose the town because of the outdoor lifestyle, and advises others to think about where they would like to be based before applying for a job.

She said: “Before I started applying for jobs in Austria, I thought about what I wanted to experience from working a winter season. 

“I thought about my level of skiing skills, my language ability and my budget in terms of cost of living because some resorts are more expensive than others. 

“I would also recommend anyone else looking for a winter season job in Austria to find a position with accommodation included to save on costs.”

READ MORE: How Britons can move to Austria to live and work post-Brexit

Another key location for winter sports jobs is Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, which is the base for nine ski resorts.

However, Innsbruck already has a permanent population of around 130,000 people, so for those searching for a typical mountain resort experience, it won’t be found in Innsbruck.

Likewise, Salzburg can be a convenient base for nearby mountains, but it’s not a popular location for winter sports jobs.

For travel into Austria, Tyrol is well connected to neighbouring Bavaria in Germany, and Munich Airport is the closest main international hub.

There are also airports in Innsbruck and Salzburg, with train connections running between the two cities.

Skiers go down the slope at Kitzsteinhorn, Austria. Photo by Daniel Frank on Unsplash

What types of jobs are available in the winter sports industry?

For many people searching for a winter sports job, hospitality provides an easy foot in the door.

Every resort has hotels and restaurants and they all need seasonal staff in the form of waiters, waitresses, receptionists, cleaners and housekeepers.

Then there are mountain huts dotted across the Alps that serve food and drink throughout the winter and also need staff.

Other winter sports jobs in Austria include ski instructors, park shapers at snowboard parks, lift operators and resort reps.

Alternatively, there are office-based jobs to consider, such as roles in marketing and advertising. 

These positions typically require a certain level of education and professional experience though, and are not always based directly in mountain resorts.

Finally, Austria is a German-speaking country and attracts many tourists from other German-speaking countries.

This means for most customer-facing roles, German-language skills are essential – depending on the location.

For example, places like Mayrhofen in the Zillertal Valley are more popular with English-speaking tourists than towns like Ischgl in the Paznaun Valley.

How to find a job in winter sports?

As with most industries and professions, searching online is usually the first step in finding a job in winter sports in Austria.

There are websites (some in English) dedicated to providing information about working as a snowsports instructor such as skilehrerjobs.at, seasonworkers.com, snowsportsinstructor.com, and snowseasoncentral.com.

Travel companies like TUI advertise latest vacancies on their website, ranging from corporate roles in Vienna to resort-based jobs in St. Johann in Tyrol.

Then there are niche jobs at companies like ski manufacturer Atomic, which is headquarted in Altenmarkt im Pongau in the province of Salzburg. Roles include sales, marketing and production.

Another useful approach is to contact resorts or hotels directly to find out when they are hiring for the winter season and the types of roles that will be available.

Or get in touch with friends that have previously worked in the winter sports industry in Austria and ask for a recommendation.

However, if applying for a German-speaking role, it is always a good idea to translate a CV into German before applying.

FOR MEMBERS: Everything you need to know about preparing your CV in Austria

Coming from overseas?

Moving to a European country to work a winter season is a dream for many people from English-speaking countries like the UK, Australia and New Zealand. 

Unfortunately, for UK passport holders, this is now more difficult after Brexit.

For people already living in Austria or elsewhere in the EU (with freedom of movement around the bloc), working a winter season in Austria is still possible though.

For people from countries outside of the EU, a work permit is often required to work in Austria, such as the Red-White-Red Card.

* The Local used statistics from the 2018/2019 winter season as the 2020/2021 season was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

EXPLAINED: How to apply for a residency permit in Austria

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For members

WORKING IN AUSTRIA

Why are people in Austria paying more taxes despite federal reforms?

Workers in Austria are still among those with the highest tax burdens in the world, with the taxes and contributions taking more than 40 percent of wages even as the country introduced sweeping tax reforms.

Published: 26 April 2024 12:21 CEST
Why are people in Austria paying more taxes despite federal reforms?

It’s often said that Austria is a country with high quality of living and high taxes, but a new OECD study shows just how high the tax burden is here compared to other OECD countries.

According to the report, Austria has the third-highest tax burden on workers and the so-called “tax wedge”, how much of a worker’s wage is taken by the government,  increased as well.

According to the OECD, in most countries, the increase in labour taxation was primarily driven by increases in personal income tax.

This is because nominal wages increased in 37 out of 38 OECD countries as inflation remained above historic levels. However, since most of these countries do not have automatic indexation of tax systems, high inflation tends to increase workers’ tax liabilities by pushing them into higher tax brackets. 

However, Austria’s federal tax reforms removed this in the country in 2023. This means that once inflation rises, the tax brackets that define how much taxes you will pay on your income will also rise – and they have risen in 2023 and in 2024 since the change. 

The measure was known as the “end of the cold progression” in Austria and should have protected workers’ incomes from inflation losses.

READ ALSO: The tax benefits that parents and families receive in Austria

What is the tax ‘wedge’?

The OECD defines a tax wedge as “income tax plus employee and employer social security contributions, minus cash benefits.” 

In other words, if an employer has a labour cost of €100, how much will they actually see in their pockets, and how much of this goes to the state? According to the organisation, the percentage is the tax wedge.

In Austria, €100 earned by a single employee without children was taxed at an average of €47.2 last year. The amount was only smaller than in Germany (47.9 percent) and Belgium (52.7 percent) and it rose compared to the previous year when it was still at 46.9 percent.

The average of the 38 OECD countries was 34.8 percent.

Married single-earner couples with two children also have high tax burdens, with a tax wedge of 32.8 percent (OECD average: 25.7 percent), which is the eleventh-highest tax and contribution burden within the OECD for this group (2022: 13th place). For married dual-earner couples, the wedge was 40.6 percent.

The tax wedge for individuals or households with children is generally lower than those without children, as many OECD countries grant households with children a tax advantage or cash benefits.

READ ALSO: Why it’s worth filling in your annual tax return in Austria

Why is Austria’s tax burden higher this year?

Despite the tax reform presented by the government, Austria’s tax wedge has increased compared to the year before. 

The reason is the relief granted in Austria in 2022 in the form of one-off state payments. With the rising cost of living, the federal government released several temporary measures to help people in the country cushion the effects, including the popular €500 Klimabonus payment every person who had been a resident of Austria for at least six months was entitled to. 

These payments and increases in family allowances reduced the tax burden in 2022 – but they no longer exist or were drastically cut in 2023. Because of that, the tax burden is rising again. 

“The abolition of cold progression and the other measures have merely prevented the tax burden from rising more sharply,” Wifo economist Margit Schratzenstaller told Der Standard.

The report said the increased tax issues show that there is still a need for action. Compared to other industrialised countries, Austria’s tax burden on work for a single person without children is ten percentage points higher. Of course, the expert noted, the fact that many industrialised countries have a different social system with fewer publicly funded benefits also plays a role here. However, labour is also expensive in Austria compared to the EU average.

READ ALSO: What foreign residents in Austria should know about taxes

“The fact that the tax burden on the middle classes has increased is due to the government’s failure. Instead of structural relief, there have been one-off payments that have evaporated,” said Lukas Sustala, head of Neos-Lab, the think tank of the liberal opposition party.

NEOS representatives have urgently called for a ‘comprehensive tax reform’ to alleviate the heavy labour burden, with a significant reduction in non-wage labour costs, according to an ORF report.

In addition, NEOS proposes the creation of ‘tax incentives for full-time work’ – including a full-time bonus and tax exemption for overtime pay. Simultaneously, NEOS aims to eliminate ‘part-time incentives of any kind’, offering a potential boost to the economy and workers’ incomes.

Economist Schratzenstaller also recommends action: She suggests reducing social insurance contributions, for example, for health insurance companies. However, it’s important to note that intervening in this area could affect the largely autonomous financing of Austria’s healthcare system, which is funded mainly through workers’ and companies’ payments via social insurance contributions. 

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