Employment promotion agency helps young people enter the labour market

20/04/2007

The Moroccan state employment agency works with jobseekers, employers and entrepreneurs to facilitate the country's labour market. The organization is young but has placed more than 31,000 Moroccans in jobs and plans to expand and improve its services.

Text and photos by Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 20/04/2007

ANAPEC’s services are proving popular with young people

At the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (ANAPEC) in Rabat’s Agdal district, young people carefully examine job postings on the wall. Some note down the details they need and then approach staff to ask for further information.

Amale Bahraoui, a young business management graduate, says she comes here at least once a week. It has been almost nine months since she graduated, but she has still been unable to find a steady job that lives up to her expectations. She did find one six months ago through ANAPEC but the position's monthly salary of 1600 dirhams ($200) was not to her liking. She has returned to the agency to find a new job with higher pay.

Next to her, Salaheddine Kamali, an economics graduate, is also trying to find a job that matches his background. This is the first time he has visited the agency and he hopes to find a job as soon as possible. "I didn’t have much faith in ANAPEC’s services but a lot of my friends have found jobs through it", he says confidently.

On the first floor, four members of the staff are responsible for searching for and handling job offers from employers and matching jobseekers with positions. They greet and give guidance to jobseekers. They also advise young entrepreneurs on their business plans.

Hafif Kamal, ANAPEC’s general manager, explained that this state-run organisation offers a wide range of services to jobseekers, employers and entrepreneurs. It helps jobseekers by putting them into their database of candidates and it helps employers by providing them with potential applicants from its national database and advertising open positions free of charge. ANAPEC also compiles an initial shortlist of candidates for employers according to criteria agreed upon in advance. The agency helps entrepreneurs with their business plans and assists foreign companies in hiring Moroccan staff.

Thousands of Moroccans have already travelled to Spain to work in a variety of sectors such as agriculture. By the end of 2006, ANAPEC had found jobs for 31,000 people. It has 400 experienced advisers and 10,000 businesses among its clients. In 2006 the agency identified over 6,000 job training opportunities as part of a special drive. The Moukawalati programme saw the opening of 70 helpdesks, expressions of interest from 11,000 project sponsors, 2,600 projects shortlisted and 800 submitted to banks.

Many women have travelled to Spain to work in agriculture with the help of ANAPEC

It is anticipated that ANAPEC will find positions for 38,000 jobseekers this year. "2007 looks to be shaping up well," Kamal told Magharebia. The agency’s action plan for this year focuses in particular on supporting its job promotion programme, under which it plans to help 200,000 young graduates find jobs by 2008. ANAPEC's own development plan comprises five main areas: expanding and modernising its network of offices, developing high-quality pilot schemes and management, increasing the professionalism of its services, opening up the agency to partners, and motivating staff to improve their performance. One hundred new jobs are expected to be created within the organisation.

A total of 189m dirhams will be needed to achieve these objectives (112m for operations and 77m for investment), representing an 85.7% increase over last year’s spending. In 2007, the ANAPEC network will expand to comprise some fifty local offices.

Hamdane Bencherif, a Rabat business manager, says he is currently seeking trainees from ANAPEC. He believes this will give him the opportunity to test candidates before hiring them. However, the agency has measures in place to protect trainees. Currently the maximum training period is eighteen months, after which the company has to offer a permanent post. If the agreement is broken, the employer is obliged to inform ANAPEC within 48 hours. Training salaries can vary between 1600 and 4500 dirhams.

Some trainees are unhappy when companies offer only the minimum salary. Salim Kartouchi, an IT graduate, tried three companies. "They all offered the same: 1600 dirhams a month. I didn’t accept because that doesn’t even cover my travel expenses," he said.

Hakima Souiri, a law graduate, disagrees. In her view the most important thing is to enable young people to get a foothold in the job market. "At the beginning, the salary doesn’t matter. What’s important is the experience, which helps you find a better job later on," she told us.