Agadir – The Moroccan government has officially launched a new workforce integration initiative aimed at young people lacking formal qualifications.
The Ministry of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills and the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (ANAPEC) initiated the IDMAJ program, aiming to help non‑graduate youth enter the labor market and expand equal opportunity employment.
“We are officially launching the IDMEJ program, but it is a program that has already started, gradually just to test certain mechanisms and assess, together with the entire network of the social agency,” Minister Younes Sekkouri said during the launching ceremony held on Friday in Rabat.
Sekkouri emphasized the need for renewed labor market strategies, sharing projections that up to 100,000 job openings could remain unfilled by the end of 2025.
The minister further described IDMAJ as part of a broader push to better align the skills of Moroccan job seekers with employer requirements.
He pointed to the scale of the challenge, about 900,000 unemployed people with no qualifications and roughly 280,000 young school dropouts who face significant barriers to employment.
“We are facing a real phenomenon that raises questions about the availability of skills in different regions, with the necessary qualifications relative to the positions being offered,” Sekkouri stated.
IDMAJ to support youth without diplomas
Under this model, IDMAJ aims to place 100,000 young people per year in apprenticeships across nearly 200 trades, spanning sectors such as crafts, manufacturing and textiles.
These placements are supported by adaptation training of three to six months, after which participants are assisted by ANAPEC.
The agency plans to extend support to up to 400,000 beneficiaries annually, including seasonal workers.
Sekkouri referenced previous inclusion programs launched after the COVID‑19 pandemic, noting they helped 235,000 Moroccans secure employment and that many employers reported strong commitment and loyalty from non‑graduate workers.
“The scheme starts with 30,000 confirmed job positions with a potential of 65,000 in key sectors: industry, automotive, services, offshoring, distribution, agri-food, aeronautics and construction,” he explained.
Key features of the IDMAJ initiative
The government covers the AMO contributions for the entire internship under the program, while companies are exempt from CNSS and TFP payments.
Firms can hire young people without qualifications on a 12‑month IDMAJ contract, after which they may transition to a permanent position.
During the contract, the company also enjoys income tax exemptions. If the intern is retained permanently, the state continues to cover social security contributions for up to 12 months for salaries of up to MAD 6,000 , and the income tax exemption is extended for an additional 24 months for salaries up to MAD 10,000 per month.
“This program aims to enable job seekers to access their first professional experience within a company, allowing them to acquire skills and improve their chances of integrating into the labor market,” said ANAPEC Director General Abdellah Chouikh. “Current data clearly indicate that nearly 800,000 young unemployed individuals have no access to such opportunities.”
Chouikh shared the early promising results of the program, saying that nearly 10,000 integration contracts were registered by the end of February 2026.
He also highlighted singing partnerships with professional federations. “These partnerships will help generate approximately 30,000 job opportunities annually for young people without formal qualifications,” Chouikh concluded. “The agreements cover several key economic sectors, including construction, industry, commerce, restaurants and cafés, private education, as well as a number of other industrial and service activities.”
