Profit from Cologne's large pool of skilled workforce

Cologne's greatest selling point is its people. The workforce is large – 17 million people live within an hour's drive of the city! Many of them are graduates and highly qualified professionals. No matter what industry you are in - in Cologne you will find the right staff for the success of your company.

• 22 universities in Cologne – 14,000 university graduates per year
• Large cluster of excellent universities in the region, such as the RWTH Aachen, the University of Bonn, and the University of Dusseldorf
• State-funded vocational training - steady flow of well-trained young professionals into the job market
• Rich mix of different industries – pool of skilled workers and advanced talent transfer between companies
• Cologne is central hub of the densely populated Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area and influx from the surrounding region
• German dual education system – successful model which has been copied all over the world
• The city values its international community and welcomes talent from abroad

North Rhine-Westphalia is a state of highly qualified workers and academics. More than one in four academics in Germany is trained in NRW. 

A broad-based university landscape in NRW secures the training of tomorrow's workforce:

• 68 universities and universities of applied sciences with around 768,000 students
• Over 110,000 graduates per year at North Rhine-Westphalian universities
• Two elite universities in close proximity to Cologne
• Ten clusters of excellence and five graduate schools