Pilot for kompetansereform i industrien

"Pilot for kompetansereform i industrien" is the registered name of a four-year state pilot (2025–2028) that the public knows as Industriens kompetansefond (the Industry Competence Fund). Direktoratet for høyere utdanning og kompetanse (HK-dir) is the grantor of record for the scheme; the fund itself is run as "et trepartssamarbeid mellom Fellesforbundet, Norsk Industri og staten" (a three-party collaboration between Fellesforbundet, Norsk Industri and the state) and is managed by Fellesforbundet and Norsk Industri. Its own site describes it as "en pilot over fire år fra 2025-2028". HK-dir is named on the fund's site as the body that has commissioned an external evaluation of the pilot.

The stated goal is "å få flere ansatte til å gjennomføre bransjerelevant etter- og videreutdanning, slik at norsk industri også i framtiden kan opprettholde og styrke konkurransekraften" (to get more employees to complete industry-relevant further and continuing education, so that Norwegian industry can maintain and strengthen its competitiveness in the future). The fund covers an enterprise's full wage costs for an employee for "inntil to uker per deltaker per kalenderår" (up to two weeks per participant per calendar year), described elsewhere as "lønnsutgifter for inntil 75 timer (to ukers verk)" (wage costs for up to 75 hours, two weeks of work). Course tuition, learning materials and travel costs are covered "etter søknad og konkret vurdering" (on application and individual assessment). The fund does not cover arbeidsgiveravgift (employer's national insurance contribution), costs that fall under employer responsibility per the Main Agreement chapter XVIII, or costs that fall under county-municipality responsibility for adult education.

Applications come from industrial enterprises covered by the Industrioverenskomsten (Industry Agreement). Employees of such enterprises may also submit, but need prior written authorisation from their employer; the site states "Både arbeidstakere og representanter for bedriftens ledelse kan være avsender av søknader til fondet" (both employees and management representatives may be the sender of applications). An employee must generally have been employed for the last two years to qualify, though shorter employment may be considered "i spesielle tilfeller" (in special cases). A business may apply once per calendar year on behalf of an employee.

On budget, the fund's own page states the government will contribute "totalt inntil 100 millioner kroner" (up to 100 million kroner in total), with employers contributing economically "med 1/3 av det statlige bidraget" (a third of the state contribution).

For autumn 2025 the fund pre-approved a set of selected fagskole (higher-vocational) programmes across several schools, and could also assess "andre bransjerelevante utdanningstilbud" (other industry-relevant education offerings). Offerings span technical vocational schools, universities and university colleges, and other course providers.

Applications are continuous: the pilot runs from autumn 2025 "til og med 31.12.2028", and processing "kan ta inntil noen uker ved stor pågang av søknader" (may take up to a few weeks when there are many applications). Applications are submitted through an external form linked from the fund's "Søk støtte" page. The required attachments listed there include a wage-reimbursement calculation ("Beregning av lønnsrefusjon"), a self-declaration form for de minimis aid ("Egenerklæringsskjema for bagatellmessig støtte"), and payslips documenting the declared salary.