Seddiki Launches National Employment Strategy
4 June 2014
Read by 1935 persons
According to the minister, the problems are a significant gap between supply and demand for decent, productive jobs and the slow pace of job creation compared to the growth in social demand.
After announcing his intention to lower the unemployment rate to 8%, Abdeslam Seddiki, Minister of Employment and Social Affairs, is taking concrete action. Last Friday, he launched the national employment strategy in Rabat, which he called the "first" to "counter this scourge through economic development by encouraging investment."
His department seems to be taking this step following the stark figures revealed by the HCP, which showed an increase in unemployment at the beginning of the year and a lack of a clear vision. For him, "employment is a matter of popular mobilization and political will."
This determination will be reflected in the strategy, which has four strategic objectives to promote job creation. These are to boost productive and decent employment, and to improve and enhance human potential.
It is also a question of improving support for job market mobility by strengthening the prevalence of productive and decent employment, and improving labor market governance. Indeed, it is all about good governance in a market marked by dysfunctions. According to the minister, these dysfunctions concern the significant gap between the supply and demand for decent, productive jobs and the slow pace of job creation compared to the growth in social demand.
He also specified that unemployment has taken on a structural dimension, particularly among young first-time job seekers, pointing to the low skill level of the active population, the prevalence of vulnerable employment (66%), and the fragmentation of the job market between the public sector (with limited capacity), the organized private sector, and the unstructured private sector.
The development of this strategy was a long process, starting in 2011 and unfolding in three main stages.
The first stage (May 2013-March 2014) involved diagnosing the job market, taking stock of the current situation, and providing an opportunity to involve all stakeholders. The second phase (May-July 2014) involved developing the strategy by mobilizing technical expertise and setting up a steering committee and a technical committee to manage and monitor the strategy's formulation.
This will culminate between July and September 2014 in operational planning and the implementation of an action plan, financially supported by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, implemented by the Moroccan ministry, and with technical support from the International Labour Office.
Regarding the Spanish agency's contribution, the Spanish ambassador to Morocco stated that "this strategy, funded to the tune of 4 million euros, will provide solutions to serious employment problems."
For its part, the ILO will provide its expertise to its Moroccan partners, drawing on its experience in other countries. According to the ILO, this strategy is purely Moroccan. It will be developed by a Moroccan team, but led by an international expert appointed by the ILO. May this work bear fruit!
Aujourdhui.ma
Published May 26, 2014.
Posted online June 4, 2014.
After announcing his intention to lower the unemployment rate to 8%, Abdeslam Seddiki, Minister of Employment and Social Affairs, is taking concrete action. Last Friday, he launched the national employment strategy in Rabat, which he called the "first" to "counter this scourge through economic development by encouraging investment."
His department seems to be taking this step following the stark figures revealed by the HCP, which showed an increase in unemployment at the beginning of the year and a lack of a clear vision. For him, "employment is a matter of popular mobilization and political will."
This determination will be reflected in the strategy, which has four strategic objectives to promote job creation. These are to boost productive and decent employment, and to improve and enhance human potential.
It is also a question of improving support for job market mobility by strengthening the prevalence of productive and decent employment, and improving labor market governance. Indeed, it is all about good governance in a market marked by dysfunctions. According to the minister, these dysfunctions concern the significant gap between the supply and demand for decent, productive jobs and the slow pace of job creation compared to the growth in social demand.
He also specified that unemployment has taken on a structural dimension, particularly among young first-time job seekers, pointing to the low skill level of the active population, the prevalence of vulnerable employment (66%), and the fragmentation of the job market between the public sector (with limited capacity), the organized private sector, and the unstructured private sector.
The development of this strategy was a long process, starting in 2011 and unfolding in three main stages.
The first stage (May 2013-March 2014) involved diagnosing the job market, taking stock of the current situation, and providing an opportunity to involve all stakeholders. The second phase (May-July 2014) involved developing the strategy by mobilizing technical expertise and setting up a steering committee and a technical committee to manage and monitor the strategy's formulation.
This will culminate between July and September 2014 in operational planning and the implementation of an action plan, financially supported by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, implemented by the Moroccan ministry, and with technical support from the International Labour Office.
Regarding the Spanish agency's contribution, the Spanish ambassador to Morocco stated that "this strategy, funded to the tune of 4 million euros, will provide solutions to serious employment problems."
For its part, the ILO will provide its expertise to its Moroccan partners, drawing on its experience in other countries. According to the ILO, this strategy is purely Moroccan. It will be developed by a Moroccan team, but led by an international expert appointed by the ILO. May this work bear fruit!
Aujourdhui.ma
Published May 26, 2014.
Posted online June 4, 2014.
