Imagine waking up tomorrow…
And discovering that an entire city had suddenly become unemployed.
Not a small town.
A city the size of Meknes.
Now imagine that happening…
Every single year.
That’s essentially what the World Bank says Morocco is facing.
In a report published earlier this year, the institution estimates that between 2020 and 2024, Morocco experienced an average structural jobs gap of 370,000 positions every year.
Read that again.
These aren’t 370,000 people losing their jobs.
They’re 370,000 jobs that never existed in the first place.
Jobs that should have been created as the economy and population grew…
But weren’t.
And that’s what makes this number so alarming.
Because when we talk about unemployment, we usually imagine companies laying people off.
Factories closing.
Businesses going bankrupt.
But according to the World Bank, Morocco’s biggest challenge isn’t only the jobs that disappear.
It’s the jobs that are never created at all.
So…
What’s stopping them?
The report points to something most people never think about.
Competition.
According to the World Bank, around 40% of Moroccan industries operate in markets where competition remains too weak.
At first, that sounds like an issue for economists.
It isn’t.
Because competition changes everything.
When companies compete, they innovate.
They lower prices.
They invest.
They expand.
And when they expand…
They hire.
But when competition is limited…
The pressure to grow becomes weaker.
Businesses become more comfortable protecting the market they already have instead of creating new opportunities.
And fewer opportunities mean fewer jobs.
That’s why this isn’t just an economic statistic.
It’s something millions of young Moroccans feel every day.
You graduate.
You polish your CV.
You send out dozens…
Sometimes hundreds…
Of job applications.
You start wondering if you’re doing something wrong.
But what if the real problem isn’t only your CV?
What if the economy simply isn’t producing enough opportunities for the number of people entering the workforce?
That’s the difference between an individual problem…
And a structural one.
And here’s why this matters for Gen Z more than anyone else.
Every year, thousands of young Moroccans leave universities, engineering schools and vocational training centers ready to work.
They’re not just competing against each other.
They’re competing for jobs that, according to the World Bank, were never created in the first place.
That’s why conversations about entrepreneurship, startups and innovation have become so important.
Because solving this challenge isn’t just about helping people find jobs.
It’s about helping Morocco create them.
Because no country can build a prosperous future if its fastest-growing resource…
Is talented young people waiting for opportunities that don’t exist.
The real question is…
If Morocco needs hundreds of thousands of new jobs every year just to keep up… who will create them: the government, big companies… or the next generation of entrepreneurs?
