Funding for companies by German Länder

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Many Federal States (Länder) in Germany implemented cost-sharing schemes in the ESF funding period from 2007 to 2013, where ESF and national funds were used for providing various types of vouchers for further education. Co-funding schemes are continued under the new ESF funding period, however, schemes are adapted on the one hand to new federal funding schemes, on the other hand, to the lower available ESF funds for further education (estimated to be EUR 300 to EUR 400 million for all Federal States per year). The voucher in North Rhine-Westphalia, providing training vouchers for individuals and employees is by far (with EUR 9 million funding in 2012) the largest program of the 16 German States. Examples of the States with voucher schemes for companies - or also open for companies -include Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, and Bremen. Beyond voucher schemes, the Federal States may provide co-funding for further education as part of other initiatives, for example, in the field of innovation policies. An overview on all cost-sharing schemes and funding schemes is available in a database (http://www.foerderdatenbank.de). There is no recent overview on funding volumes and beneficiaries. For 2012, it has been estimated, that approximately 40 000 individuals benefited from a voucher by the Federal States.