Morocco Rethinks its Employment Strategy
30 May 2014
Read by 1718 persons
Morocco has started working on "radical" changes to its employment strategy, which has proven ineffective.
On Friday, May 23, the Ministry of Employment invited representatives from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other experts to Rabat to discuss a new approach that will be presented as early as next September.
According to a recent diagnostic study, first-time job seekers, long-term unemployed graduates, young women, people with disabilities, and people from rural areas are the most discriminated against categories in the current labor market.
This study also highlights a lack of skills in both the private and public sectors, said Abdeslam Seddiki, Minister of Employment.
Unemployment is linked in particular to the imbalance between supply and demand and to the inability of the education and training system to align training with the needs of the labor market, he added.
The diagnostic study shows that current efforts cannot lead to permanent solutions to these problems and are incompatible with the country's development objectives. The risk to social cohesion is therefore real.
And the many employment strategies launched to date have not been able to reverse this trend, the report also reveals.
"This action has focused on managing the initial integration phase for graduates, whereas the challenge is to manage all mobility in the labor market," explained the minister.
Morocco must now find radical and profound solutions, he declared at the seminar organized in Rabat.
"It is good to develop a detailed diagnosis," says sociologist Siham Chtibi to Magharebia. "But it is also necessary to carry out a scientific study on the real needs of the employment market in order to adapt training to the requirements of the business world."
Ahmed Karmachi, a 22-year-old student, believes that it is useless to simply launch employment programs.
He cites the Moukawalati program, whose objective was to support business creation, but which proved to be a failure, as the minister himself acknowledged.
"We need to think about new programs," acknowledges Khadija Charafi, 24, who graduated in business management three years ago but has not been able to find permanent work since.
"The current situation is too critical. Young people can no longer cope with long-term unemployment," she explains.
Magharebia.com
Published May 27, 2014.
Posted online May 30, 2014.
On Friday, May 23, the Ministry of Employment invited representatives from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other experts to Rabat to discuss a new approach that will be presented as early as next September.
According to a recent diagnostic study, first-time job seekers, long-term unemployed graduates, young women, people with disabilities, and people from rural areas are the most discriminated against categories in the current labor market.
This study also highlights a lack of skills in both the private and public sectors, said Abdeslam Seddiki, Minister of Employment.
Unemployment is linked in particular to the imbalance between supply and demand and to the inability of the education and training system to align training with the needs of the labor market, he added.
The diagnostic study shows that current efforts cannot lead to permanent solutions to these problems and are incompatible with the country's development objectives. The risk to social cohesion is therefore real.
And the many employment strategies launched to date have not been able to reverse this trend, the report also reveals.
"This action has focused on managing the initial integration phase for graduates, whereas the challenge is to manage all mobility in the labor market," explained the minister.
Morocco must now find radical and profound solutions, he declared at the seminar organized in Rabat.
"It is good to develop a detailed diagnosis," says sociologist Siham Chtibi to Magharebia. "But it is also necessary to carry out a scientific study on the real needs of the employment market in order to adapt training to the requirements of the business world."
Ahmed Karmachi, a 22-year-old student, believes that it is useless to simply launch employment programs.
He cites the Moukawalati program, whose objective was to support business creation, but which proved to be a failure, as the minister himself acknowledged.
"We need to think about new programs," acknowledges Khadija Charafi, 24, who graduated in business management three years ago but has not been able to find permanent work since.
"The current situation is too critical. Young people can no longer cope with long-term unemployment," she explains.
Magharebia.com
Published May 27, 2014.
Posted online May 30, 2014.
