Morocco’s Construction Boom Faces Labor Crunch as World Cup Preparations Accelerate

"We are facing a worrying scarcity of specialized profiles due to the simultaneous opening of large-scale projects that require massive and rapid mobilization," says Mohammed Mahboub, president of the National Federation of Building and Public Works (FNBTP), interviewed by the Saudi platform Asharq. This manifest imbalance between the supply and demand of skills is not without consequence: it has led to a bidding war on salaries. This compromises the profit margins of companies, particularly medium and small-sized structures, ill-equipped to withstand this cost inflation.

The construction sector currently employs some 1.2 million people in Morocco. They are distributed among more than 7,000 companies holding an accreditation. These companies are closely dependent on public markets, which account for an average of two-thirds of investments made in the country between 2018 and 2024. Until now, private initiative has not been able to replace the state as the main client. The room for maneuver thus remains narrow. In 2022, the authorities decided to modify this structural dependence by adopting an investment charter. This grants private operators substantial tax and financial incentives. The objective of this reform is to bring the share of the private sector to two-thirds of national investments by 2035.

According to an estimate by the Attijari Global Research unit, attached to Morocco’s leading banking group Attijariwafa bank, a colossal envelope of $170 billion in projects "should irrigate the Moroccan economy by the end of the decade." At the same time, the public authorities intend to significantly expand vocational training programs. The annual number of beneficiaries in the strained sectors should increase from 30,000 to 100,000. This policy "is based on assured financing through a 1.6% tax levied on the payroll of companies," learns Barlamane.

For Mahboub, this strategy will not immediately overcome the labor shortage. "Strengthening skills requires a long time, but the ongoing construction sites require an immediate response," he warns, calling for a rapid mobilization of available resources and a rationalization of tenders.