Morocco’s Construction Industry Grinds to Halt as Coronavirus Impacts Workforce

This sector is running at a slow pace and real estate construction sites have been limited to a few organized structures that have maintained their activities by providing transportation to employees and deploying a protocol to preserve health measures on construction sites, reports the daily l’Economiste.

Since the announcement of the health emergency and confinement, the workforce of many companies in the sector has been reduced by half. As a result, nearly 90% of construction sites are at a standstill.

According to the same daily, the operators (six federations, the National Order of Architects, the Order of Surveying Engineers, the Al Omrane group...), faced with this situation, had committed in writing to maintain employment, activity and strict compliance with safety and hygiene standards.

Unfortunately, this decision only lasted a very short time. A week later, the Order urgently called for "the cessation of construction sites, with the exception of those of priority and major interest for the country". For these maintained sites, the Order has demanded "strict compliance with preventive health measures and the use of a videoconferencing system for the project management teams, architects, engineers...". In addition, some workers have benefited from the generosity of some operators through the payment of bonuses to keep them in their positions.