Moroccan private sector hires only 3% of university graduates

The private sector hires only 3% of Moroccan university graduates, who are seriously affected by unemployment which reaches for some disciplines 54%, said Moroccan Minister of Employment Khalid Alioua.

Alioua, who is also minister of solidarity and vocational training, made the statement during the signing ceremony of an accord between his department and the ministry of higher education on qualifying training for young degree holders.

Alioua explained that the inadequacy of training with the expectations of enterprises is behind the acute unemployment situation. He added that 30% of unemployed young people have been idle for at least two years, a fact that negatively impacts on their professional skills.

He stated further that the number of university graduates has been multiplied by 11 fold between 1982 and 1996 while the number of people hired by the civil service is decreasing.

Alioua recalled that the agreement "integration-employment" concluded in 1998 with the private sector enabled to hire 23,400 degree holders in 12 months.

Minister of Higher Education Najib Zerouali, on his part, stressed the need to foster coordination between the university and the enterprise and recalled that his department is projecting the creation of an observatory to match training with employment requirements. The observatory will be set up in cooperation with the World Bank.