The most recent unemployment figures released by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) are somewhat disturbing. Unemployment now stands at 10.7%, higher than the previous estimate. What is particularly troubling is that it is primarily youngsters, especially in urban areas, and women who are affected by this curse.
These indicators pose a direct challenge to Mr El Othmani’s newly-formed government. While tackling unemployment is one of the top priorities on the government’s agenda that was put before Parliament, it is difficult to know what can be done in practical terms to reduce unemployment. In Morocco, or anywhere else for that matter, job creation cannot simply be decreed!
Employment is dependent on the inescapable law of supply and demand. And this holds even more true as far as our open and liberal economy is concerned.
The State, which is the nation’s largest employer, is undoubtedly concerned by the necessity to create jobs but its coffers and its budget will not be able to withstand the inexorable upward trend in public sector wages, now at almost unsustainable levels. Jobs are generated as a result of economic growth, when companies feel the need to recruit and to invest in order to attain their growth targets and expand their businesses.
And therein lies the rub, since the domestic economic environment remains sluggish, with productive investment stagnating, an entrepreneurial sector riddled with payment defaults, cash flow problems and a tax regime that basically penalises companies for being transparent. There is no reason to believe that there will be a positive turnaround in the coming months.
As everyone can sense, unemployment, particularly youth unemployment in urban areas, regardless of whether these youngsters are qualified or not, is a ticking time bomb, in social terms, that can explode at any moment.
Unemployment fuels discontent and frustration and has the potential to beget harmful situations that are fraught with danger.
Has it not, for example, been heavily exploited by a small group of agitators in the Al Hoceima region, who have sought to perpetuate social instability in recent months?
Is not the cause of recurrent acts of violence among youngsters on leaving football stadia, youngsters who have no outlet other than to vent their dissatisfaction and their constantly thwarted aspirations? Isn’t it the cause of the physical and moral degeneration of unemployed persons who resort to drugs, crime, theft or violence to satisfy their longing for a better life, a better well-being?
The public authorities will undoubtedly affirm that they are doing their best, as was the case with the previous government. Seminars, training programmes, positive action by the OFPPT, there have been a whole host of incentives but, as can be seen, these are as much use as a poultice on a wooden leg!
The issue of tackling unemployment cannot be solved by piece-meal measures which have limited impact but, rather, by creating the necessary macro- and micro-economic conditions that strongly incentivise companies across all business sectors to recruit.
It is only by adopting an attractive and efficient tax regime for entrepreneurs who are keen to recruit, by taking concrete measures to provide greater flexibility to the labour market by removing the legal obstacles that discourage potential employers from recruiting and by offering incentives to revive growth, that wealth will be generated and, as a result, new jobs created.
No-one can afford to overlook the seriousness of the situation, certainly not those who are responsible for the security of the general public and social harmony, because when disgruntlement finds expression, the only solutions, which are bound to be brutal, will have highly adverse consequences for our country, its internal stability and its reputation…
Fahd YATA
Original article : https://lnt.ma/chomage-bombe-a-retardement/
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