An official study released this Friday concluded that the national economy suffers from poor growth on grounds of underemployment namely “job creation”, despite the efforts made by the state and the private sector.
The study, conducted by the Directorate of Financial Studies and Forecasts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the National Observatory for Human Development (ONDH), stated that the labor market in Morocco suffers from quantitative and qualitative imbalances and is known for its poor governance.
According to the findings, the average number of jobs created annually for each point of growth in domestic production between 2008 and 2020, was about 12,550 compared to 32,264 jobs in the period 2000-2007.
The study confirmed that Morocco faces many challenges represented in the high level of unemployment among young people and the low rate of activity among women, in addition to the suitability of training to job opportunities, low labor productivity and underemployment.
Underemployment, according to the definition of the International Labor Organization, is related to the number of working hours, insufficient income, and the inadequacy of work with training.
The number of Moroccans who suffer from underemployment is approximately 1 million people in 2021, including 550,000 in cities and 453,000 in rural areas, which represents an underemployment rate of about 9.3%, compared to 14.6 %.
Despite the low rate of underemployment, its level remains high in Morocco; This requires, according to the study, a deep analysis of it and work to mitigate its severity.
The underemployment rate is 86% for men, and 52% for rural areas. It concerns young people under the age of 35 with about 26.6%, and among those without any diploma, it is 57.8%.
The study attributed the reason for the rise in underemployment among young people to their high unemployment rate so that they are forced to accept fragile jobs with low incomes.
Underemployment is more concentrated in the construction and public works sector, at a rate of 17.3 %, between 2007 and 2021; This explains that this sector provides job opportunities that often do not require high qualifications.
The percentage of underemployment in the agriculture and forestry sector is about 10.3% during the same period. As for the industrial and services sectors, they average 7.1% and 8.9%, respectively.
Regarding occupational status, underemployment among the wage earners is spread by about 11.2% during the same period between 2007 and 2021, where we find that 62.9% of wage earners out of 3 do not benefit from a work contract. The percentage reaches 89.4% in the construction and public works sector.
The finding of the study emphasizes the need to measure the various types of underemployment in order to avoid and address its repercussions.
It also indicated that underemployment data are of great importance in developing, implementing and evaluating public policies and employment programs.
The conclusion emphasized the need to adopt an integrated approach in order to reduce the volume of underemployment in order to strengthen growth, encourage the creation of more quality job opportunities, and confront the structural obstacles that the labor market suffers from.
Technological developments, changes in qualification needs, and demographic shifts remain among the factors affecting underemployment and require a proactive approach and an appropriate response in the implementation of public policies.
The study recommended that public actors focus on developing skills and programs in a way that keeps pace with labor market developments.
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