Morocco’s Call Centers Face Job Losses as France Bans Cold Calling

"The French market has historically represented more than 80% of the activity of offshore customer relationship centers in Morocco, in terms of turnover. However, the specific segment of cold calling (or "outbound telemarketing") now represents only 15 to 20% of the sector’s total activity. The majority of the value created now comes from higher value-added services: customer service, technical support, back-office, moderation, etc.," Youssef Chraïbi, president of the Moroccan Federation of Service Outsourcing (FMES), told the newspaper Le Matin.

For the official, this measure is a shock for Moroccan call centers, especially those that depend on cold calling. "The most vulnerable structures are small, undiversified entities, often single-client or single-activity telemarketing, which have not been able to reposition themselves as general outsourcers. For them, this ban risks causing a sharp drop in their business volume, potentially leading to closure. The risk is therefore twofold: social, with job losses, and reputational, if non-compliant practices persist in certain segments. That said, the sector, mainly dominated by large players accounting for more than 75% of the overall activity, has already begun a transition several years ago towards higher value-added services that are more compliant with international regulations."

The measure could also affect "in the short term" centers specializing in cold calling, "especially those that worked with few ethical or legal safeguards," explains Chraïbi, adding that "in the medium term, this contraction is also an opportunity to accelerate the sector’s upmarket move. The conversion to compliant activities, such as multichannel customer relations or specialized BPO services, is not only possible but has already taken place among structured players who have been able to support this transition, particularly through training and reconversion programs."

Concrete measures are planned to mitigate the effects of this ban, assures the professional: "The subject is closely monitored through the close partnership between FMES and SP2C (Union of Contact Center Professionals), our sister federation in France, with which we share many common members. SP2C plays a role of direct representation to French authorities and has already engaged in exchanges with regulators to ensure that the application of the regulation remains balanced and pragmatic. This structural link between our two federations allows us to defend the interests of the sector in both countries and propose constructive solutions. More formal consultations are expected in the coming months, and FMES stands ready to support the necessary adjustments on the Moroccan side."

The president of the Moroccan Federation of Service Outsourcing further argued that artificial intelligence (AI) "is a strategic opportunity, but it does not directly substitute for humans in all cases, especially not in a low-cost model focused on volume. For less structured entities, AI cannot be a short-term solution without investments in training, infrastructure, and technical support. However, for leading players, AI is already becoming a lever to improve productivity, automated processing of simple requests, and personalization of customer relationships. We should not oppose AI and humans: it’s intelligent hybridization that will make the difference."

To preserve the balance of the sector in Morocco, he recommends "mapping risks (identifying the most exposed structures, supporting them individually), strengthening reconversion mechanisms (with public and private training programs towards AI, digital, or multilingual customer support jobs), stimulating investment in technology through tax incentives and public-private partnerships to modernize infrastructures, and above all accelerating the upskilling of talents to capture new jobs generated by AI, data analysis, or AI model training."