Hiring the best team for the job can be a challenge. It often takes a whole lot of effort and it is not a task that should be taken lightly. While there may be many prospective employees in your field, the most important consideration is their level of expertise.

Some of the most in-demand employees today are software developers. In fact, among the top 10 most in-demand job skills today are app, mobile, and web programming, development, and coding.

Many companies are finding qualified employees overseas these days, and Morocco with its favorable exchange rate and ample supply of capable software developers is a good option. Read on to learn more about the software developers in Morocco, their qualifications, and the aspects of payroll and tax you need to consider when hiring programmers from this country.

Software Developers in Morocco

Morocco was listed as one of the best countries for sourcing software developers in 2021.Specifically, the number of software developers in Morocco last year was around49,800. Of these, 80% were men and 12% were women. The vast majority of software developers in Morocco were quite young, with 54% between the ages of 18 and 24. Another 40% fell into the 25 to 34 range. In Morocco, you can find developers using JavaScript, Python, and other top languages.

Qualifications

Most software developer shave bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science or a similar field. The best software developers in the country have usually gone to coding schools and bootcamps that offer IT training such as 3W Academy, 1337 Coding School, Code Academy, and YouCode.

These schools offer Full-Stack web developer training, React JS front-end training, and WordPress masterclasses. They cover all the popular programming languages such as C#, Python, PHP, HTML, and Java.

Moroccan software developers are usually multilingual. They need to learn how to read, write, and speak both English and Arabic, and often French.

Most software developers in Morocco usually work for European clients through BPO companies. The fact that European countries hire Moroccan IT developers is an indication of the developers’ skills and excellent work ethic. Moroccan expertise in the field is also shown by the developing tech ecosystem there lately, for instance, successful tech startups being funded by VCs like Freterium and Chari.ma.

Salary Levels

Just like in any other type of job, the salary rate depends on the software developer’s job experience. The chart below shows the average salaries, in USD, of software developers in Morocco with a variety of experience levels.

Entry Level: $14,300    

Average: $20,400

Senior level: $25,400

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In terms of Moroccan currency, the average hourly salary is MAD 96/hr and the average bonus is about MAD 9,000. When it comes to the salary potential, in 5 years, the average salary expected for these jobs rises as high as MAD 249,800. This is about a25% increase.

Working Regulations in Morocco

Companies hiring remote workers in Morocco must be sure to adhere to the country’s labor laws. These include:

Probationary Period

Moroccan law dictates the probationary period at the start of each employee’s contract, according to their position. The probationary period is 3 months for executive positions,1.5 months for white-collar jobs, and 15 days for blue-collar jobs.

Software developers have a standard 3 months probationary period which is usually extended to 6months.

Maximum Working Hours

The maximum working hours for employees are 44 hours a week which equates to 2288 hours annually. Employees must not work more than 10 hours a day, and there must be at least one 24-hour rest period each week.

Payment Schedule

Workers on hourly pay must be paid at least twice per month. For workers on a monthly salary, monthly payments through payroll are standard.

All about Payroll for Moroccan Remote Workers

Aside from knowing about the basic salary, employers also need to know about software developers’ necessary contributions such as taxes as well as their types of payroll.

Social Security and Statutory Contributions

Employers in Morocco are required to make contributions to their employees’ social security. These contributions amount to around 20% of the salary and go to the employee’s family benefits, health insurance, life insurance, and personal training tax.

Moroccan employees are also required to make certain contributions themselves. Those contributions amount to around 6% of their income and are used for death and compensation for illness funds, pregnancy benefits, and health insurance.

Tax

Moroccan employees pay two types of tax on their incomes: income tax and personal tax. There is a tax-free allowance of MAD 30,000 yearly (approximately $3,050), after which taxis on a sliding scale from 10% up to 38% for earnings over MAD 180,000 yearly (around$18,300).

Employers are also subject to tax in Morocco. This depends on the company’s annual turnover but is usually between 14.7% and 18.2%.

Types of Payroll

You can hire remote workers in Morocco in three ways: domestic payroll, international payroll, or through an Employer of Record.

A domestic payroll involves setting up a legal entity in Morocco and employing your Moroccan workers as regular employees. While this eliminates the complications of being a foreign entity, the process of getting set up as a legal entity in Morocco is time-consuming and expensive. It is a sensible approach if Morocco forms part of your company’s long-term goals, but is impractical for onboarding a small remote team.

With an international payroll, the foreign company lists the Moroccan employee on their payroll and pays all associated salaries, tax, and contributions in Morocco. This allows the company to pay workers without establishing a legal entity in the country. This may seem like a straightforward choice, but there are challenges in fulfilling the employer's obligations as a foreign company.  

The third option is working with an Employer of Record. In this case, the Employer of Record acts as the official employer for your Moroccan remote team, handling all payroll and compliance matters.

RemotePass for Remote Moroccan Teams

For a hassle-free route to employing your dream team, work with RemotePass. RemotePass is an Employer of Record, and because we own the entity in Morocco, we take care of everything from tax to social security processing, invoice tracking, and more for your Moroccan employees. All the essential tasks are done for you, not by you. Save your time for more productive endeavors, and let us help your remote team grow.

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