Dynamics and Determinants of Youth Graduate Unemployment in Morocco : An Analysis of the Structural Factors of the Labor Market

Abstract

This article is based on an integrative literature review that mobilizes theoretical and institutional contributions to analyze the dynamics and structural determinants of unemployment among young graduates in Morocco. It highlights that this unemployment, far from being limited to cyclical fluctuations, results from a deep mismatch between the skills produced by the education system and the needs of a productive structure dominated by low value-added sectors. Young graduates operate in a labor market that lacks dynamism, characterized by the limited innovative capacity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, slow industrial transformation, and insufficient productive investment capable of generating skilled jobs. These economic constraints are compounded by persistent institutional limitations, including fragmented public employment policies, a weak evaluation culture, the misalignment between educational strategies and labor market demands, administrative rigidities, and the significant weight of the informal sector. By articulating these economic and institutional dimensions, the article shows that youth graduate unemployment stems from a system where reforms remain partial, scattered, and insufficiently coordinated. It concludes by emphasizing the need for integrated policies linking education, employment, innovation, and productive development in order to sustainably reduce the structural imbalance that hinders the labor market integration of qualified young people in Morocco.

Classification JEL : J24   J44    J64   J82

Paper type: Theoretical Research