Support that works: Study confirms the strong impact of the Viennese way

Nine out of ten participants say that without the waff support, they would not have been able to pursue further training. A new study highlights the lasting impact of this funding instrument.

At a joint event organised by the Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (waff) and ESF+ Austria in October, the funding instru­ment “Chancen-Scheck” took centre stage – it provides targeted support for employees with low formal qua­li­fi­ca­ti­ons or qua­li­fi­ca­ti­ons not reco­g­nis­ed on the labour market, helping them to learn and advance professionally.

Günter Hefler and Eva Steinheimer presented key findings from the under­ly­ing study, which clearly demon­stra­te the effec­ti­ve­ness of the programme:

• 90% of par­ti­ci­pan­ts stated that without financial support, they would not have been able to continue their education or training.
• One third reported pro­fes­sio­nal advance­ment, with two thirds of these expli­ci­t­ly linking it to the support received.
• The com­bi­na­ti­on of indi­vi­du­al guidance and financial assi­stance proved par­ti­cu­lar­ly effective, enabling long-term deve­lo­p­ment and career progression.

Through the Chancen-Scheck, waff sus­tain­ab­ly streng­thens employment, career prospects and equal oppor­tu­ni­ties in Vienna. Since 2015, this suc­cessful model has been co-financed by ESF+ and waff, giving thousands of people access to further education.

The Chancen-Scheck thus stands as both an example of the social impact of European funding and a concrete con­tri­bu­ti­on to the goals of the Vienna Qualifications Plan.

The final project report is available for download here.