Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre la política del empleo, 1964 (núm. 122) - Marruecos (Ratificación : 1979)

COVID-19 pandemic. Response and recovery measures. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous request concerning the nature and impact of the measures taken, including under the Plan for Economic Recovery and Employment (PREE), to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment. In particular, the Government indicates that it has adopted a wage guarantee mechanism, Damane oxygène, an Industrial Recovery Plan 2021–23, and Act No. 25.20 providing for exceptional measures for employers and workers who have suffered from the repercussions of the pandemic. The Government also indicates that it has updated the 2017–21 National Employment Promotion Plan (PNPE) to give absolute priority to preserving employment.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Declaration and pursuit of an active employment policy. Labour market trends. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in reply to its previous requests concerning the impact of measures taken to promote access to the labour market for certain disadvantaged groups, such as young persons, persons with disabilities, rural workers and workers in the informal economy. The Committee notes that in 2022, the results of the midterm evaluation of the National Employment Strategy (SNE 2015-25) revealed, inter alia, that the SNE implementation rate was low, due to a lack of ownership of the strategy, disconnect between the strategy’s objectives and those of the State budget, and an inadequate governance system for the SNE. In response, the Government, in collaboration with the ILO, held consultations in order to formulate a new National Policy on Employment and Entrepreneurship (PNEE 2025–35). The Government indicates that the key objectives of the new PNEE, anchored in the country’s New Development Model, are: (i) employment growth, particularly through measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises; (ii) improving the quality of employment, particularly by formalizing the informal sector; and (iii) access to employment for vulnerable groups, particularly women. The Government indicates that, to ensure equity among the regions, the PNEE will be implemented through regional governance mechanisms. Regarding labour market trends, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government, taken from the annual employment survey of the Office of the High Commissioner for Planning (HCP) for 2022. The Committee also notes that, according to a survey by the HCP published in 2023, between 2022 and 2023 the unemployment rate in Morocco increased from 11.8 to 13 per cent (from 15.8 to 16.8 per cent in urban areas and from 5.2 to 6.3 per cent in rural areas). The underemployment rate also rose, from 9 per cent to 9.8 per cent during the same period (from 8.1 per cent to 8.7 per cent in urban areas and from 10.4 per cent to 11.6 per cent in rural areas). According to the HCP survey, unemployment in 2023 remained highest among young persons aged between 15 and 24 years (35.8 per cent), graduates (19.7 per cent) and women (18.3 per cent), with five regions accounting for 69.8 per cent of the unemployed (the Casablanca-Settat region in first position with 25.8 per cent, followed by Fez-Meknes (12.7 per cent), Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (12.3 per cent), Oriental (9.7 per cent) and Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima (9.2 per cent)). The Committee also notes that, in its “Economic Monitor” report for Morocco, published in autumn 2023, the World Bank observed that “a large proportion of women and youth remain excluded from labour markets, with declines in activity rates”. The Committee refers in this respect to its observation adopted in 2020 on the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), where it noted the measures and initiatives taken by the Government to achieve progress in gender equality in employment and occupation. In the above-mentioned report, the World Bank also notes that “jobs continue to be lost in rural areas as agricultural activities suffer from the multi-year drought that began in 2019” and that “the Al Haouz earthquake has also raised awareness about the pockets of poverty that persist in rural areas, many of which have barely participated in the profound economic transformations undergone elsewhere in Morocco over the past two decades”. In this regard, the Committee emphasizes that the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205) contains guidance on the measures to be taken to generate employment and decent work for the purposes of recovery and resilience with respect to crisis situations. The Committee further notes that, in a report of 2023 entitled “Informality and inclusive growth in the Middle East and North Africa”, the World Bank also notes that the informal employment rate in Morocco remains very high, at an estimated 77.3 per cent. The Committee draws the Government’s attention in this respect to the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204), which provides comprehensive guidance on the elements to be taken into account during the formulation and implementation of policy responses on the informal economy, which should address: the promotion of strategies for sustainable development, poverty eradication and inclusive growth, and the generation of decent jobs in the formal economy, the promotion of a conducive business and investment environment, and the promotion of entrepreneurship, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other forms of business models and economic units, such as cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy units (2021 Addendum to the General Survey of 2020, Promoting employment and decent work in a changing landscape, paragraph 130). In the light of the above, and noting that the National Employment Strategy (SNE) adopted in 2015 is due to expire in 2025, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information in its next report on the evaluation of the SNE regarding its impact on productive and freely chosen employment, especially for certain disadvantaged groups, in particular women, young persons, persons with disabilities, rural workers and workers in the informal economy. Noting that a new National Policy on Employment and Entrepreneurship (PNEE) is being formulated for the period 2025–35, the Committee hopes that the PNEE will be finalized in the near future and requests the Government to provide a copy once it has been adopted, together with detailed information on the main objectives pursued and the measures taken in this context, relating in particular to balanced regional development and the promotion of employment of disadvantaged groups, especially women, young persons, persons with disabilities, rural workers and workers in the informal economy (in accordance with Recommendation No. 204). The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the measures taken in relation to employment and decent work to enable the recovery and strengthen the resilience of the regions, in particular the province of Al Haouz, affected by a crisis situation. The Committee further requests the Government to continue providing statistical information on the labour market and the size and distribution of the labour force, as well as on the nature and extent of, and trends in, unemployment and underemployment, disaggregated by age, gender and region.

Article 3. Consultation of the representatives of the persons affected, and in particular representatives of employers and workers. The Government indicates that the social partners participate in the consultations and dialogue for the implementation of public policies, in particular the PNEE that is being formulated. The Government has not, however, provided any information on the manner in which representatives of the persons affected by active employment policy measures (in particular women, young persons, persons with disabilities, rural workers and workers in the informal economy) are consulted on these policies. The Committee therefore requests the Government to describe the manner in which, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, the representatives of groups affected by employment policies are consulted in the process of formulating of these policies, particularly with regard to the PNEE 2025–35, with a view to taking fully into account their experience and views in this process.