Hiring a worker in Morocco can cost employers significantly more than the employee’s salary once mandatory employment costs are taken into account, placing the country among the world’s highest-ranked jurisdictions for employer burden, according to a new report.
A worker earning $50,000 a year costs a Moroccan employer roughly $60,000, according to the 2026 Employer Burden Index released Wednesday by Employ Borderless.
The additional cost is driven largely by mandatory social security contributions, which employers in Morocco pay at a rate of 20.1% of wages.
Morocco also imposes relatively significant statutory costs when employment ends. Mandatory severance compensation can amount to 13.4 weeks of salary, while the statutory notice period is 7.2 weeks, according to the index.
Those factors placed Morocco 15th among 192 countries and territories, with a score of 75 out of 100.
The index measures the extent to which legally mandated employment obligations increase costs for employers. Social security contributions account for 50% of the score, severance pay for 30% and notice periods for 20%.
Morocco does not require employers to pay a mandatory 13th-month salary, a provision found in some countries that impose additional annual payments on employers.
Argentina ranked as the most expensive country in the index. A worker earning $50,000 there costs an employer about $69,500 after mandatory employment costs are included.
The United States ranked 158th. Employing a worker on a $50,000 salary costs a U.S. employer about $54,000 after mandatory social security contributions.
New Zealand recorded the lowest employer burden in the report.
Europe had the highest average employer burden among the regions analyzed, with 47 countries recording an average score of 51.7.
The differences reflect, in part, how countries distribute the costs and risks associated with employment between employers and workers.
In 38 of the countries covered by the index, employers are not legally required to provide a minimum level of severance pay, leaving the final cost largely to individual employment contracts and negotiations.
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