Qualifizierungsgeld: Germany's training subsidy reached only 350 employees in twenty months

The Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks (ZDH), the umbrella organisation representing approximately one million craft enterprises in Germany, considers the scheme "de facto irrelevant" for SMEs. The burden of justifications required and the superior appeal of general training aids explain this lack of interest, according to the ZDH. It recommends abolishing Qualifyzierungsgeld to simplify the range of available support instruments.

In industry, workforce reductions currently take precedence over internal reskilling. This trend undermines the very logic of the scheme, which assumes that companies will open new business areas for existing employees rather than laying them off.

Origins of the scheme

Qualifyzierungsgeld stems from recommendations made in 2022 by the advisory council of the Federal Ministry of Economics, then chaired by economist Jens Südekum—now an adviser to Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD). That council advocated for creating new "on-the-job" training instruments to support Germany's economic structural transformation.

The Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), the federal labour market research institute, estimated as early as 2019 that more than one-third of German employees subject to social contributions worked in easily automatable occupations. This structural context prompted the development of the scheme.

Timeline

1. 2019
   The IAB estimates that more than one-third of German employees subject to social contributions work in easily automatable occupations.
2. 2022
   The advisory council to the Federal Ministry of Economics, under Jens Südekum's leadership, recommends new "on-the-job" training instruments.
3. Early 2024
   Introduction of Qualifyzierungsgeld. The annual budget is set at €360 million, reduced to €200 million for 2024.
4. April 2024
   Official reference period begins. The scheme is operational but faces very low uptake.
5. 2024 results
   €108,035 spent over the full year against a planned budget of €200 million.
6. 2025 results
   €442,408 spent. Total beneficiaries for April 2024 – December 2025 cap out at around 350.
7. July 2026
   Handelsblatt reveals these figures via the Labour Ministry's response to a Kleine Anfrage from the Greens. Sylvia Rietenberg calls the result "disappointing"; the ministry sees no need for action.

Political reactions

disappointing

— Sylvia Rietenberg, Green MP responsible for labour market policy, on the Qualifyzierungsgeld outcome

Rietenberg calls for concrete improvements to the instrument. The Labour Ministry, for its part, sees no need for action: it states that the actual impact of Qualifyzierungsgeld on job security "cannot yet be assessed".

What remains uncertain

According to the Labour Ministry, the real impact of the scheme on job security has not yet been evaluated. The precise factors behind low uptake—difficulties informing companies, administrative burden, or structural misalignment—are not the subject of any published official analysis at this stage.

Frequently asked questions

11 August 2026 at 15:11

19 August 2026 at 04:56