USAID and OFPPT Inaugurate New Casablanca Career Center

Casablanca — The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Morocco’s Office of Professional Training and Promotion of Work (OFPPT) have today officially inaugurated a career center in Casablanca.

The Casablanca Career Center is now open at the Specialized Institute of Applied Technology in Hay Hassani and was inaugurated today by Minister of Education Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah, U.S. Ambassador Dwight L. Bush and OFPPT Director Larbi Bencheikh.

According to a communiqué released by the U.S. Embassy in Morocco, the career center, which is the third in the country after those in Marrakech and Tangiers, is “the fruit of partnership between USAID and the Moroccan government” and will be a space for “exchange between all players in the labor market — young people, companies, training institutions, recruitment agencies, associations, business federations — to support young people in their transition from training to employment.”

The career center offers a variety of services for those interested in getting more career guidance, namely orientation reviews, job preparation workshops, soft skills training and information on key job sectors and internship opportunities. 

Nadia Amrani, a USAID Development Programs Specialist, told Morocco World News last week that the point of the program “is to help young people acquire technical and non-technical skills in order to make them more employable in the market.”

“What we’re hearing more and more from the private sector,” she added, “is that employers really value non-technical skills: the ability to get to work on time, having good communications skills, knowing how to work in teams and having a critical eye.” 

The USAID Career Center Program, which funded the country’s three career centers, has invested a total of $24 million in improving youth employability in Morocco.