Morocco: Unemployment falls... thanks to the informal sector!
27 November 2014
Read by 1949 persons
137,000 net jobs, on average, are created each year between 2000 and 2013. At the same time, around 180,000 people enter the job market annually. Growth is necessary but insufficient to generate jobs in quantity and quality.
Between 2000 and 2013, the Moroccan economy created an average of 137,000 jobs per year. During this time, 180,000 people entered the job market each year. There is therefore a deficit of 43,000 jobs just to stabilize the unemployment rate.
And if, despite everything, unemployment fell by 4.2 points between these two dates, falling from 13.4% to 9.2%, it is because, it must be said, two phenomena in particular contributed to it: the decrease in the activity rate of women, on the one hand, and the development of informal activities, on the other. In 2000, the participation rate of women was 28.1%; it fell to 25% in 2013, according to data from the High Commission for Planning (HCP) relating to the labor market. Just to get an idea of the activity rates of women around the world, it should be noted that it is around 65% in Europe and 70% on average in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the lowest female activity rates are recorded in Arab-Muslim countries, with an exception for Qatar (51%) and Kuwait (43%), two countries hosting large numbers of foreign populations, particularly in the first case.
But more than the activity rate of women, the so-called "prosperity" of informal activities is the phenomenon that seems to have had the greatest impact on the reduction of the unemployment rate in Morocco.
According to the diagnosis of the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs developed as part of the formulation of the National Employment Strategy (SNE), the observed decrease in the unemployment rate over the last ten years masks a reality: more and more workers are taking refuge in the informal sector, with lower incomes, more vulnerable and less protected jobs. Due to the fact that the public sector offers fewer and fewer jobs and the private sector cannot absorb all the job offers, the informal sector has thus become a refuge sector. As a result, there would be a cause-and-effect relationship between the decline in unemployment and the development of the informal sector: employment in the informal sector has increased with the decline in the unemployment rate. Hence the weight of the informal sector in the national economy. Thus, the informal sector accounts for 14% of GDP, or, based on the 2013 GDP, 122.2 billion DH. It provides 37% of non-agricultural jobs: 81% in commerce, 34% in industry, 18% in services and 17% in construction (probably much more in the building sector). Only 16% of all workers in the informal sector are salaried employees.
A 1-point increase in GDP creates 30,000 jobs
In reality, precariousness does not only characterize employment in the informal sector. Rural employment is just as precarious and vulnerable. And indeed, if unemployment in rural areas is only 4% in 2013, underemployment is higher there (10%) than in urban areas (8.4%). Above all, 40% of jobs in rural areas are unpaid, compared to 4% in urban areas. These unpaid activities in rural areas are occupied by 78% of active women and 68% of young people under 25 years of age. Salaried employment is only 24% there, compared to 65% in urban areas.
As a result, overall, less than 20% of employed workers nationwide had health coverage in 2012. By professional status, the affiliation rate of employees (not all workers) to a health coverage system is 40%! 60% of the employed active population does not have a work contract, and 17% of employed workers wish to change jobs...
All this to say that in Morocco, there is a weak correlation between economic growth and job creation; especially quality jobs. This means that growth is certainly a necessary condition, but undoubtedly insufficient to create jobs in quantity and quality to meet expectations. Statisticians say that in Morocco, when GDP increases by 1 point, it generates the creation of approximately 30,000 jobs. This is clearly insufficient in view of the labor supply, which, as already mentioned, increased annually by an average of around 180,000 people.
This is why it becomes more than evident that tackling the problem of unemployment and precarious employment necessarily involves taking proactive measures relating to the enhancement of human capital, the development of active employment programs and labor market intermediation, the territorialization of employment policy, among others.
Agriculture, commerce and construction employ 62.3% of employed workers
Between 2000 and 2013, employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing decreased from 45.9% to 39.4%; in services, it increased from 33.4% to 39.7%; and in the secondary sector (industry and construction) it stagnated at 20.8%. The HCP statistics on the distribution of employment by branch of activity show that agriculture is the largest employer, followed by commerce and construction. These three branches, where precariousness predominates, alone employ 62.3% of employed workers in 2012.
Sana Guessous.
Lavieeco.com
Published on November 24, 2014.
Posted online on November 27, 2014.
Between 2000 and 2013, the Moroccan economy created an average of 137,000 jobs per year. During this time, 180,000 people entered the job market each year. There is therefore a deficit of 43,000 jobs just to stabilize the unemployment rate.
And if, despite everything, unemployment fell by 4.2 points between these two dates, falling from 13.4% to 9.2%, it is because, it must be said, two phenomena in particular contributed to it: the decrease in the activity rate of women, on the one hand, and the development of informal activities, on the other. In 2000, the participation rate of women was 28.1%; it fell to 25% in 2013, according to data from the High Commission for Planning (HCP) relating to the labor market. Just to get an idea of the activity rates of women around the world, it should be noted that it is around 65% in Europe and 70% on average in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the lowest female activity rates are recorded in Arab-Muslim countries, with an exception for Qatar (51%) and Kuwait (43%), two countries hosting large numbers of foreign populations, particularly in the first case.
But more than the activity rate of women, the so-called "prosperity" of informal activities is the phenomenon that seems to have had the greatest impact on the reduction of the unemployment rate in Morocco.
According to the diagnosis of the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs developed as part of the formulation of the National Employment Strategy (SNE), the observed decrease in the unemployment rate over the last ten years masks a reality: more and more workers are taking refuge in the informal sector, with lower incomes, more vulnerable and less protected jobs. Due to the fact that the public sector offers fewer and fewer jobs and the private sector cannot absorb all the job offers, the informal sector has thus become a refuge sector. As a result, there would be a cause-and-effect relationship between the decline in unemployment and the development of the informal sector: employment in the informal sector has increased with the decline in the unemployment rate. Hence the weight of the informal sector in the national economy. Thus, the informal sector accounts for 14% of GDP, or, based on the 2013 GDP, 122.2 billion DH. It provides 37% of non-agricultural jobs: 81% in commerce, 34% in industry, 18% in services and 17% in construction (probably much more in the building sector). Only 16% of all workers in the informal sector are salaried employees.
A 1-point increase in GDP creates 30,000 jobs
In reality, precariousness does not only characterize employment in the informal sector. Rural employment is just as precarious and vulnerable. And indeed, if unemployment in rural areas is only 4% in 2013, underemployment is higher there (10%) than in urban areas (8.4%). Above all, 40% of jobs in rural areas are unpaid, compared to 4% in urban areas. These unpaid activities in rural areas are occupied by 78% of active women and 68% of young people under 25 years of age. Salaried employment is only 24% there, compared to 65% in urban areas.
As a result, overall, less than 20% of employed workers nationwide had health coverage in 2012. By professional status, the affiliation rate of employees (not all workers) to a health coverage system is 40%! 60% of the employed active population does not have a work contract, and 17% of employed workers wish to change jobs...
All this to say that in Morocco, there is a weak correlation between economic growth and job creation; especially quality jobs. This means that growth is certainly a necessary condition, but undoubtedly insufficient to create jobs in quantity and quality to meet expectations. Statisticians say that in Morocco, when GDP increases by 1 point, it generates the creation of approximately 30,000 jobs. This is clearly insufficient in view of the labor supply, which, as already mentioned, increased annually by an average of around 180,000 people.
This is why it becomes more than evident that tackling the problem of unemployment and precarious employment necessarily involves taking proactive measures relating to the enhancement of human capital, the development of active employment programs and labor market intermediation, the territorialization of employment policy, among others.
Agriculture, commerce and construction employ 62.3% of employed workers
Between 2000 and 2013, employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing decreased from 45.9% to 39.4%; in services, it increased from 33.4% to 39.7%; and in the secondary sector (industry and construction) it stagnated at 20.8%. The HCP statistics on the distribution of employment by branch of activity show that agriculture is the largest employer, followed by commerce and construction. These three branches, where precariousness predominates, alone employ 62.3% of employed workers in 2012.
Sana Guessous.
Lavieeco.com
Published on November 24, 2014.
Posted online on November 27, 2014.
