Renault Workers in Tangier Earn Up to €1,700, While Others Get Just €300 a Month
At Renault in Tangier, wages reportedly reach €1,700, according to a union official. In Saïdia, an ice cream shop employee earns €300 a month. A Belgian journalist travelled across Morocco to understand why the country’s industrial boom is not benefiting all workers.
“Don’t let Renault blind you.” The warning came from a Moroccan taxi driver interviewed by John Vandaele, a journalist with the Belgian media outlet MO. While car factories are running at full capacity, many employees are still struggling to make a living from their work. “A lot of people here earn €300 a month. It’s hard to live on that,” he told him.
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In his report published on October 9, the journalist visited the Renault factory in Tangier, described as the French automaker’s largest. A car rolls off the production line every minute, while 90% of output is exported. The site employs 7,000 people, with a further 11,000 working for direct suppliers, according to the UMT union.
Ahmed Bahnis, UMT secretary-general, cites monthly wages of between €1,300 and €1,700 in assembly. These figures were reported by the union official, who provided no pay scale to confirm them. He also touts benefits secured through negotiations: coverage of 75% of employees’ and their families’ healthcare expenses, bonuses and a 13th-month salary.
In Saïdia, €300 a month and accommodation provided
Several hundred kilometres from Tangier, Abdel knows a very different reality. He used to work in a restaurant in Rabat for €200 a month, plus tips. Rent swallowed almost all his salary. By sharing accommodation outside the capital, he cut his housing costs but spent more on transport.
He eventually moved to Saïdia, where he works at an ice cream shop for €300 a month. His employer provides him with a room, a welcome benefit. But tips are rare in this seaside resort, which empties out after the tourist season.
In Jerada, Hamid also earns €300 at a power plant. He is concerned about the coal dust at his workplace, having lost his father to lung disease. He manages to keep his expenses down by living rent-free in former mining company housing.
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These disparities reflect a deeply imbalanced labour market. According to the International Monetary Fund, the services, industry and construction sectors added 783,000 jobs between 2019 and 2025. But agriculture lost 809,000, notably as a result of successive droughts and the modernisation of farms.
The Belgian report also stops in Douar Shalouh, near Berkane. In this village of farmworkers, residents say they work for €25 a day, with no guaranteed employment. Some earn no more than €300 a month. Yet they live without running water, electricity or a school, about 30 kilometres from Saïdia’s tourist resorts.
