Morocco’s Job Market Still Reeling from COVID-19 Impact, Shows Signs of Recovery

Due to the health crisis, the Moroccan economy lost between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, 202,000 jobs in urban areas and 258,000 in rural areas, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP). Of this figure, unpaid employment represents 185,000 lost jobs. A loss due to the continuous decline of the agricultural sector in rural areas, in favor of the tertiary sector which reached 67.5% in the first quarter of 2021, against 76.9% in the first quarter of 2010, said Aomar Ibourk, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). However, "despite the decline in the number of family helpers, the underemployment rate increased from 8.8% to 9.2%, or an additional 34,000 people (from 954,000 to 988,000), especially young people," he specified.

As for the evolution of demand, it depends on several dynamics, including the one related to the management of the health crisis at the national and international level, added the expert, stressing that the uncertainty about the speed of achieving the vaccination campaign objectives could impact the decisions of the players, especially private investors. Public investment is promising.

Furthermore, thanks to the support measures taken by the government, several companies have withstood the crisis. But in the first quarter of 2021, corporate bankruptcies have still risen by 15%. Nevertheless, with a better cereal season, Morocco could record growth exceeding the previously forecast 4.8%. But to get back on track, more efforts must be made to create more jobs for young people and more investment in labor. It will be necessary in particular to improve the activities that generate more jobs, including activities from the social and solidarity economy, public works, without forgetting the stimulation of the fight against illiteracy, concluded the expert.