Employability and Labour Market Disruption: A Case Study of socially privileged young Moroccan Millennials.

Abstract:

This study explores how socially privileged young Moroccan Millennials experience employability in the context of profound socio-economic, technological, and political disruptions of the past two decades. While older generations offered guidance based on expectations of stable career pathways, Millennials in Morocco have come of age during a period marked by the global financial crisis, rapid digitalisation transformation, the COVID-19 pandemic, global postcolonial political instability, and the emergence of artificial intelligence. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with late young Moroccans aged 27-33, the research examines three dimensions of their employability trajectories: the career expectations shaped by generational advice, the realities they encountered in disrupted labour markets, and the strategies they developed to adapt. The findings highlight a persistent mismatch between traditional expectations of secure employment and the fragmented, precarious, and competitive opportunities available. Successful stories illustrate adaptive strategies such as entrepreneurial activity, digital upskilling, and flexible career identities. The study contributes to debates on youth transitions and employability by situating Moroccan Millennials within global shifts while emphasising their local specificities, thereby extending understanding of how young people in the Global South navigate disrupted worlds of work.