Rabat – The figures disclosed in a recent report by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) entitled “Principle Teachings on Employment Quality in 2016” are showing great disparities in unemployment rates between men and women, a market that offers poor training for employees, a precautious employment structure and weak qualifications.
Young Women More Impacted by Unemployment than Men
Nearly one in four young people aged 15 to 24 (1,685,000 young people) is not working, not in school, and is not attending vocational training.
The HCP figures show that young women are severely more impacted, as the unemployment rate stood at 44% among young women (1,319,000 persons), and 11.7% among young men (366,000).
Among the population of qualifying secondary education school age (15-17 years), 14.2% (300,000 people) do not work, are not in school and do not receive any training. This proportion is 24.6% among girls (243,000 people) and 5.1% among boys (58,000 people). Among the 18-24 age group, this proportion reached 34.6% (1,385,000 persons), 53.5% among girls (1,077,000 people) and 15.5% among boys (308,000 people).
Low Skill Levels and Low Employment Quality
Of a workforce of 10,642,000 employed persons aged 15 years and over, 6,426,000 have no diploma (60.4%), 2,900,000 have an intermediate level diploma (27.2%) and only 1,316,000 have a higher education diploma (12.4%).
Of the employed persons without a diploma, 3,337,000 work in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (82.5% of total employment in this sector), 676 000 in construction (9%), 603,000 in industry (50.3%) and 1,802,000 in services (41.5%).
At national level, 98.2% of employees did not receive any training paid by the employer during the last 12 months (97.7% in urban areas).
20% of Employed People Work for Free
In Morocco, having a job does not necessarily mean getting paid. 2,178,000 employed persons, more than 20% of the workforce, are working without receiving a wage.
According to the HCP, the majority of these people work in rural areas (1,987,000 persons), and 958,000 (9%) do casual or seasonal work.
Almost 5% of these employed persons work day and night shifts, 3% alternate between the two, and 1% work only night shifts.
4 out of 10 people (4,325,000 people) work more than 48 hours per week at the national level, 47% of the urban population (2,549,000 people) and 34.1% of the rural population (1,776,000 people) (3,935,000 persons) and 14.2% of the women (391,000 persons).
No Contract, No Medical Coverage, and No Trade Union Affiliation
Nearly two-thirds of the employees (3,093,000 people) do not have a formal contract with their employer, with 716,000 of these employees working in the construction sector (89.7% of total employment in this sector).
96.6% of the employed population (10,282,000 persons) is not affiliated to a trade union or professional organization (94% in urban areas and 99% in rural areas).
In the same chapter, 8,344,000 employed persons (78.4%) do not have medical coverage at the national level, (64.6% in urban areas and 92.8% in rural areas).
Unsatisfied Employees
Nearly one in five (2,278,000) employed persons are not satisfied with their job and express a desire to change. They are 35.1% of employed persons working in the construction sector (366 000 people).
For cause, they were 71% to reported unsatisfactory remuneration, 9.4% unfavorable working conditions, 9.1% employment security, and 5.1% inadequate job training.
3.5% of the employed persons (373 000 persons) do not manage to balance their private and professional life, while 16.1% (1,713,000 people) struggle to do and 30.2% (3,214,000 people) manage but with difficulty.
