Skilled worker scholarship

Current information on the skilled worker scholarship: The skilled worker scholarship scheme in Shortage Occupations covers subsidised training courses in MINT, healthcare/social work, environment and ecology.

The skilled worker scholarship supports training in areas where the shortage of skilled workers is particularly acute. With this aim in mind, it supports training in MINT (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences and technology) subjects as well as health and social. Technical training with an environmental focus can also qualify for funding as a MINT subject. In the field of health and social affairs, training in medical assistance, medical administration and elementary education can be supported. For nursing and social care professions, the nursing scholarship will be in effect from January 2023 instead. For people whose highest qualifications are school leaving qualifications or lower, preparatory courses for the extraordinary final apprenticeship examinations (→ USP) in all skilled trades are also eligible for funding.

The aim is to improve workers' qualifications in order to improve their chances on the labour market. The scholarship is also meant to offer people who started training in the aforementioned areas in the past the opportunity to complete their training by obtaining supplementary qualifications. Training courses are eligible for funding if they are included in the Public Employment Service Austria (Arbeitsmarktservice - AMS) list of training courses eligible for funding, they begin no later than 31 December 2022, and are completed entirely in Austria.

Target group

• Employees/workers (employees must be on leave for the duration of the training)
• People who are unemployed
• Self-employed people not currently practising their trade

who are resident in Austria and who hold qualifications no higher than Level 5 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) - i.e. qualifications below Master Craftsman, university or specialist vocational college level.

Requirements

• 208 weeks of employment subject to unemployment insurance contributions, or self-employment subject to pension insurance contributions, within the last 15 years,
• taking educational and career advice before starting the scholarship and/or
• passing the entrance examination, if applicable.

Eligible training programmes

• Full-time training (at least 20 hours per week)
• awarding a formal educational qualification
• below the level of a specialist technical colleague
• in the selected fields: Healthcare/social care, environment/ecology and MINT, as well as for people with qualifications no higher than the compulsory school leaving certificate: Preparatory courses for the final apprenticeship examination, irrespective of the chosen skilled trade

The skilled worker scholarship can be granted for the duration of the training, for a total period of at least three months and up to a maximum of three years. The progress of the training must be documented on an ongoing basis.

If training is interrupted due to the temporary closure caused by the pandemic, an application to extend the maximum duration of the grant can be submitted to the Public Employment Service, accompanied by confirmation of your circumstances from the training provider. A course switching from face-to-face to online teaching does not constitute grounds for an extension.

The scholarship

• Amounts to at least the amount of the compensatory allowance (in 2023: 3.20 Euro per day) for the duration of the training (maximum three years). Existing entitlements to unemployment insurance benefits (unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance) are taken into account.
• Recipients of the scholarship are covered by health, accident and pension insurance
• The scholarship must be repaid in the event of a grossly negligent violation of the requirement to provide evidence
• Additional earnings limit: ASVG - marginal employment threshold
• Training costs are not covered. The only exception to this rule is that people with qualifications no higher than the compulsory school-leaving certificate can receive a parallel grant towards course costs.

The skilled workers scholarship is designed to cover subsistence costs incurred during training. No other payments from the Public Employment Service or unemployment insurance benefits will be made in parallel to the skilled worker scholarship, with the exception of the childcare allowance.

People in receipt of a skilled workers scholarship are entitled to take on additional marginal employment. "Pocket money" paid as part of training funded by means of a skilled worker scholarship will not be considered as financial support under the scholarship; nor will it be considered as income from self-employment or employment.

Further links

Information on the skilled workers scholarship (→ AMS)^{German text}

Weiterführende Links

Informationen zum Fachkräftestipendium inklusive Liste der förderbaren Ausbildungen (→ AMS)