Rabat – Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani announced on Monday that his cabinet created over 138,791 jobs in the public sector under the finance bills of 2017,2018, and 2019.
El Othmani’s statement at the House of Representatives comes amid a set of national protests, condemning the lack of job opportunities and the unemployment rate in Morocco.
The government leader said that the number of jobs created in the public sector had increased compared to the 2012-2016 period, when only 71,442 jobs were created.
El Othmani added that his government has put in place a series of measures to reduce the unemployment rate.
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The measures include the support of employment programs and intensifying the government’s efforts in the field of public employment.
“The employment programs have contributed to the achievement of important results in reducing the unemployment rate, by monitoring 201,241 jobseekers through the integration program.”
El Othmani added that the employment programs contributed to the achievement by reaching 102,581 self-employed entrepreneurs at the end of April 2019, compared to 32, 400 in 2015.
The politician also explained that the government’s measures aim to create jobs and support youth employment, emphasizing that they made a significant contribution to reducing the unemployment rate.
Pressure of unemployment
Faced by the pressure of unemployment and social protests, the government has pledged several upgrades to programs in hopes of ensuring better education and to guarantee job opportunities for students after graduation.
King Mohammed VI has made the unemployment rate a priority in most of his recent speeches and meetings with the government.
On February 28, King Mohammed VI chaired a working meeting with the government to discuss programs to upgrade vocational training and improve operations and teaching methods.
The King has been calling for the government to upgrade programs for vocational training, which he believes could increase employment.
The unemployment rate remains high among youth aged 15-24, at 27.5 percent, according to the statistics issued by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) earlier this year. Morocco’s overall unemployment rate fell slightly from 10.2 percent to 9.8 percent from 2017 to 2018.
