Verein WAMS - Arbeitsplätze als Sprungbrett

Verein WAMS - Arbeitsplätze als Sprungbrett (commonly shortened to WAMS, and operating as WAMS gGmbH) is an Austrian non-profit social-economic enterprise based in Innsbruck, Tyrol. Its name states its mission: "Arbeitsplätze als Sprungbrett" means "jobs as a springboard." Since 1984 the organisation has offered women and men affected by unemployment paid work in social-economic businesses, using those jobs as a stepping stone back into the regular labour market. WAMS describes itself as convinced of every person's fundamental right to a good job, and it accompanies, advises and qualifies its employees so that their re-entry into the mainstream labour market succeeds. WAMS operates two connected lines of activity. The first is a network of second-hand shops, the WAMS LÄDEN, which sell clothing, shoes, bags, dishes, toys and bicycles under the slogan "Second-Hand – First-Class." The second is a collection-point system, the WAMS SAMMELSTELLEN, through which people across Tyrol can donate usable goods. The donated items are given a second life — "Wiederverwenden statt Wegwerfen," reuse instead of throwing away — which conserves resources and the environment while simultaneously creating valuable work. The shops and collection points are the public face of the organisation; behind them sit the social-economic enterprises that provide the actual jobs. According to the organisation's own figures, WAMS provides 138 jobs in its social-economic businesses. Of these, 76 have a social and labour-market policy purpose, including 55 transitional jobs (Transitarbeitsplätze) for the long-term unemployed and 19 jobs for older job-seekers aged 55 and over, serving as a springboard back into the labour market or into retirement. Two further positions are protected jobs for people with disabilities, supporting their integration into working life. The organisation is legally structured as a gemeinnützige GmbH (gGmbH), a non-profit limited liability company, and is active primarily in the Tyrolean market, with its best-known shop location in Innsbruck at Innrain 30b. WAMS is a small but long-established part of Austria's social economy, a sector in which non-profit organisations run commercial activities to fund employment and integration services. Its model combines environmental goals (reuse and waste reduction) with social goals (labour-market integration), and it depends on both donations of goods from the public and public labour-market funding. The organisation remains active; its website has been undergoing revision, but its shops and collection points continue to operate as usual.

WAMS was founded in 1984 in Tyrol, Austria, as an organisation dedicated to creating jobs for people affected by unemployment. From the outset its model was social-economic: rather than providing passive support, it ran commercial operations — above all second-hand shops and the collection of donated goods — and used the revenue and the work itself to employ and qualify people who had been out of work for long periods. The organisation's guiding idea, expressed in its full name, is that a job should function as a springboard ("Sprungbrett") back into the regular labour market rather than as an end in itself. Over the decades WAMS built up a network of shops, the WAMS LÄDEN, and donation collection points, the WAMS SAMMELSTELLEN, across Tyrol. The shops sell donated clothing, shoes, bags, dishes, toys and bicycles, giving usable goods a second life and promoting reuse over disposal. The organisation adopted the slogan "Second-Hand – First-Class" for its retail operations and "Wertvolle Arbeit miteinander schaffen" (creating valuable work together) as an overarching motto. Its best-known location is the shop at Innrain 30b in Innsbruck. Legally, WAMS operates as a gemeinnützige GmbH (gGmbH), a non-profit limited liability company, which allows it to combine a commercial structure with a charitable mission. Its work is supported by public labour-market programmes and by the donations of goods it receives from the public. According to the organisation's own reporting, it provides 138 jobs in its social-economic businesses, of which 76 have a social and labour-market policy purpose: 55 transitional jobs for the long-term unemployed, 19 jobs for older job-seekers aged 55 and over, and 2 protected jobs for people with disabilities. These figures illustrate the scale of the operation and its focus on transitional employment as a route back to work or into retirement. WAMS has remained active into the present. Its website has been under revision, but the organisation has stated that all WAMS businesses continue to operate as usual, and its shops and collection points remain available to the people of Tyrol. As a long-standing part of Austria's social economy, WAMS represents a model in which environmental sustainability (reuse and waste reduction) and social inclusion (labour-market integration) are pursued through the same commercial activity.

• 1984

  WAMS is founded in Tyrol, Austria, offering jobs as a springboard for people affected by unemployment.

• WAMS operates WAMS LÄDEN second-hand shops and WAMS SAMMELSTELLEN donation collection points across Tyrol.

• WAMS reports 138 jobs in its social-economic businesses, including 55 transitional jobs, 19 jobs for older job-seekers (55+) and 2 protected jobs for people with disabilities.

Non-profit social-economic enterprise combining reuse/recycling with labour-market integration; "Second-Hand – First-Class" retail and "jobs as a springboard" for the long-term unemployed in Tyrol.

• WAMS LÄDEN second-hand shops

  Shops selling donated clothing, shoes, bags, dishes, toys and bicycles under the slogan "Second-Hand – First-Class."

• WAMS SAMMELSTELLEN collection points

  Donation points where Tyroleans can hand in usable goods so they get a second life and help create valuable work.

• Transitional jobs (Transitarbeitsplätze)

  55 transitional jobs for the long-term unemployed, serving as a springboard back into the labour market.

• Jobs for older job-seekers (55+)

  19 jobs for older job-seekers aged 55 and over, as a springboard back into the labour market or into retirement.

• Protected jobs for people with disabilities

  2 protected jobs supporting the integration of people with disabilities into working life.

1. 1WAMS gGmbH – Wertvolle Arbeit miteinander schaffenwams.at
2. 2Verein WAMS - Arbeitsplätze als Sprungbrett (Wikidata)wikidata.org