馃嚥馃嚘MoroccoNorth Africa
Younes Sekkouri defends employment record amid skeptical opposition
via Le Matin6 min read
Younes Sekkouri, Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment, and Skills, defended the government's employment record against opposition skepticism, highlighting upcoming labor code amendments and social dialogue achievements. He announced that before May 1st, the Government Council will adopt an amendment to the Labor Code, reducing the work week from 12 to 8 hours. This change is expected to impact hundreds of thousands of private security, cleaning, and catering agents, and potentially 400,000 to 500,000 intermittent workers. Employers will have six to twelve months to comply, with a strict ban on new 12-hour contracts after promulgation. The estimated budgetary cost is a 40-50% increase in payroll in affected sectors, shared by the state and private sector. Sekkouri also detailed the social achievements of the legislature, stating that commitments from the tripartite social dialogue will reach 49.7 billion dirhams by 2027. This includes a 1,000 dirham general increase for public sector employees and nearly 18 billion dirhams for national education, with salary revaluations and the integration of 100,000 primary teachers. The non-agricultural hourly minimum wage has increased from 14.81 DH to 17.9 DH since 2021. However, Sekkouri acknowledged a "serious problem of effectiveness" regarding sanctions against non-compliant employers, with penalties capped at 20,000 dirhams annually for a single infraction, suggesting a need for stricter regulations and a reform
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Le Matin.
The unemployment gap between men and women in Morocco has increased to 9.7 percentage points since the pandemic, with the women's unemployment rate reaching 20.5% in 2025, compared to 10.8% for men, according to Bank Al-Maghrib's 2025 annual report. This gap was 5.7 points in 2019. Additionally, women earn less, with a nearly 23% wage gap in urban areas in 2019, according to the High Commission for Planning HCP. Morocco ranks in the bottom decile globally for gender equality, despite constitutional provisions. The activity rate for women decreased from 21.5% to 19% between 2019 and 2025, while for men it fell from 71% to 68.5%, maintaining a 49.5-point gap. Rural areas have seen a significant increase in disparities, largely due to successive years of drought impacting agricultural activity, which employs 86.4% of active rural women. Social norms also contribute to these inequalities; a 2017-2020 global values survey found that 64% of men and 48.3% of women in Morocco believe men should be prioritized for jobs when opportunities are scarce. Furthermore, 69% of men and 54% of women consider being a housewife as rewarding as paid employment. Practical difficulties such as insufficient work flexibility and inaccessible childcare services also hinder women's participation in the labor market. This issue extends beyond Morocco, with a World Bank study indicating that removing barriers to women's employment in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan MENAAP region c
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