The Compensation Fund is no longer the institution it once was. As compensation reform has steadily reduced the bulk of its budget allocations, the public agency is undertaking an unprecedented transformation: the overhaul of its own human capital.

The stated objective is to “provide the institution with a job and skills framework, coupled with a workforce planning system” according to the Fund. In practical terms, this means identifying every position, defining the skills required for each role, and comparing those requirements with the institution’s actual needs.

According to documents reviewed by TelQuel, the initiative is ultimately intended to produce a workforce planning framework that identifies the employee groups affected and determines the profiles to be recruited, both internally and externally.

Mapping every position

The first phase involves a comprehensive review of the organization, followed by the creation of a directory of all positions within the institution, classified by occupational category.

Each position will then undergo a detailed analysis through a job description outlining its mission, responsibilities, level of autonomy, and internal and external interactions. Developed jointly with the employees concerned, these descriptions are intended to formalize responsibilities that have often been defined only through informal practice.

The resulting competency framework will identify, for each position, the level of proficiency required and compare it with the employee’s current skill level. Any gap between the two will serve as the basis for future decisions on training, internal mobility, or recruitment.

Adjusting workforce levels

This is the most sensitive aspect of the project. Management plans to compare the staffing levels theoretically required with the actual number of employees in each unit to determine an optimal supervisor-to-staff ratio. The review will also assess employees’ employability based on factors such as seniority, age, and career path.

The documents reviewed explicitly refer to addressing potential issues related to the “age pyramid” and “overstaffing” as well as identifying the employee groups that could be affected by workforce adjustments. At the end of this phase, a five-year action plan will be rolled out, combining training, internal mobility, career reorientation, and targeted recruitment.

This reassessment of the age pyramid and staffing levels is no coincidence. Since 2022, the government’s compensation bill has fallen from 42 billion dirhams to less than 14 billion following the gradual phase-out of subsidies for butane gas, sugar, and flour. As a result, the Fund’s traditional core mission has steadily diminished, raising questions about the appropriate size of the institution itself.

The reform is scheduled to be implemented over the course of a year, culminating in the introduction of an HR dashboard and a social report designed to professionalize the institution’s management on a lasting basis. Whether this streamlining will ultimately lead to layoffs, forced transfers, or simply a more efficient allocation of existing positions remains to be seen.

Written in French by Younes Saoury, edited in English by Amina Kadiri