As Morocco’s unemployment continuously grows, education and skills are no longer enough to obtain a job, in either the public or private sector. While the young Moroccan men and women that are not educated have an even harder time finding jobs, the unemployment rate for educated youth is still terribly high: 22% among males and 38% among females. According to the Gallup organization, one out of three young Moroccans wants to emigrate to find jobs—this number increases as the youth’s education increases.
According to Moroccan Sociologist Samira Kassimi, layoffs and business failures are the main cause of unemployment. However, there is a mass influx of graduates into a labor market that cannot absorb them all.
Meanwhile, unemployed Moroccan graduates continue to protest in metropolitan areas in Morocco. Every year, more graduates continue to join the movement. Graduates protest four or five times a week—the more they protest, the higher the possibility for a government jobs. Organizers keep a tally—protestors are awarded points for attendance and for scuffles with police. The more points a protestor receives, the higher his or her name is placed on a list given to employers looking for employees.
The campaign for jobs has become a game for many protestors and has brought both anger and shame to them. Protestor Abdul Rahim Momneh says, “I have a degree, a master’s degree in English, and I’m here…idle without a job, without dignity, without anything.”
However, the Moroccan government is making efforts to alleviate the stress on the labor market. The strategy to reduce the unemployment rate is multi-tiered, according to Employment Minister Abdelouahed Souhail. Souhail claims that this strategy calls for encouraging investment, building up workforce skills, and tailoring education towards the businesses required in the labor force.
The primary contradiction and cause of joblessness for those educated is that they are being educated in fields that do not offer jobs—the labor market needs people with skill sets that are hard to find.
The government is working on identifying employment trends and gauging the effectiveness of vocational training programs in an effort to understand labor market needs and decrease the unemployment rate.
Creative Commons Love: Hasna Lahmini on flickr.com
Written by Aanchal Narang