Precarious employment: New behaviors of young Moroccans

Abstract

Among the young population, those graduated from the university are less affected by job precarity insecurity (Hurtubise, 2012). Nonetheless, they remain immune regarding the new rules established in the job market. Currently, the changes observed in the new strategies adopted by the Moroccan labor market with relation to new types of recruitment, have a negative impact on the professional integration of young people, including the most educated.

Indeed, some education streams produce many bachelors (undergraduates) (BAC + 3 or BAC + 4) and graduates (Master or equivalent) according to the Statistical yearbook of Morocco (2017), which lead them to uncertainty and ambiguity regarding their future professional careers. Moreover, given the flexibility of the labor market, significant university graduates are struggling to find job positions, the majority of which are classified as being precarious employment. During the last two decades, we observe that students who obtain their Baccalaureate diplomas tend to orient themselves more towards vocational trainings instead of university education, due to the fact that these vocational trainings represent booming sectors of the economy, such as for example, specialized technicians in technology fields, who have no difficulty to secure a job position.

Thus, there are few available surveys on these issues encountered by young university graduates. However, starting from 2000s, the HCP (High Moroccan Authority on Planning) has begun to administer ongoing household employment surveys in both urban and rural areas. The extent of precarious employment among young Moroccans, including the most educated, remains difficult to measure and to identify, because the ENE (National Survey on Employment) questionnaire does not contain perception questions aimed specifically at youth, but targets the entire population of working age (15 to 65).

JEL Classification : I23, J11 et O15

Paper type : Theoretical Research