The West is benefiting from Morocco's brain drain

A lack of opportunities for graduates amid high joblessness shows the country’s education system needs change to help the economy grow

Aliaa Abou Khaddour

A stuttering post-pandemic economy in Morocco has led to high unemployment, especially among graduates leaving an education system which needs to better equip them for an evolving labour market

The West is benefiting from Morocco's brain drain

Mohamed Sharki

last update on 29 Sep 2023

Morocco’s economy is improving, with better growth rates boosting its national finances, but the trends are taking time to reach the labour market.

In the year's first half, the number of jobs fell by 86,000. That took the unemployment rate to 12.4%, leaving it above pre-pandemic levels. It was at 8% in 2019.

It means that the country’s most skilled job seekers are in demand abroad, while at home, high unemployment is stoking concern about the blend of skills Morocco’s education system is creating.

In turn, that has led to calls for fundamental reform at universities and colleges, to better equip workers for the private sector.

The economic strains currently being felt were started by Covid, which hit the country’s economy hard. In 2020, Morocco’s GDP fell by 7% and 500,000 jobs were lost.

GDP bounced back in 2021, growing by 8% after a $12bn injection of bank financing. But 2022 brought Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation and rising interest rates, and growth slipped, to 1.3%.

That decline also came amid the more profound impact of climate change in North Africa, not least via the impact of water scarcity on the agriculture sector, which employs almost three-tenths of the workforce.

The government expects growth of 3.7% in 2024, compared to 3.4% by the end of 2023.

High unemployment

One of the effects of this volatile run on Morocco’s economy has been high unemployment. The number of job seekers hit 1.5 million in the second quarter of 2023, up by 156,000 year-on-year, an increase of 11%.

The jobless rate is worse in cities – at 16% – compared with 5.7% in rural areas. It is worse for young people and women. Over a third of the workforce under 24 is out of work, with a similar proportion of female unemployment.

Graduate unemployment is running at over 19%. This has motivated qualified, young people to look for work abroad.

One of the effects of this volatile run on Morocco's economy has been high unemployment. Graduate unemployment is running at over 19%. This has motivated qualified, young people to look for work abroad.

Crisis for some, opportunity for others

But what amounts to a crisis for Morocco is an opportunity for developed countries in need of talented workers.

Official statistics show that this brain drain from Morocco to Europe and Canada has reached about 6,000 people annually. They include doctors, engineers and computer programmers.

Graduates who stay can struggle to find work despite their qualifications — a sign that the education system is not producing the right blend of skills.

And so, the government intends to overhaul what is being taught. Morocco's universities will offer more tuition in foreign languages, especially English, and will make more use of digital technology in scientific research.

These are steps toward producing candidates better suited for the private sector, where skills relating to mathematics and technology are in demand.

Reforms will emphasise those areas over the preference for the humanities, law and philosophy. Those subjects are seen as more suited to the public sector, where there is less scope for growth in vacancies in a labour market already in flux and facing the impact of Artificial Intelligence.

Small business

The government is also encouraging young people to start small businesses to create jobs and self-employment.

Its Forsa programme, worth $230mn in the 2022/23 budget, has financed around 10,000 projects with 10-year interest-free loans averaging around $11,000 per project.

There is also a second round of a programme targeting non-graduates called Awrach, which helps people set up business projects via commercial bank funding guaranteed by the government.

It has been especially popular in rural areas and the suburbs, and with women, helping many to become economically active.

The brain drain from Morocco to Europe and Canada has reached about 6,000 people annually. They include doctors, engineers and computer programmers.

Women still lag behind men

The proportion of women in the workforce has been in steady decline for the last 10 years, falling under 20%.

It is as if the Arab Spring halted some of the social progress that had helped women find work, leading to a return to conservative values.

Morocco's economic future will depend on the opposite of that: a more modern approach to making sure the country is equipping its young people with the skills and opportunities they need in a dynamic labour market at a time of technological change.

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