Expansion of Jobs Expo into Morocco
The renowned Irish recruitment exhibition brand, Jobs Expo, has made a significant leap into the Moroccan market, aiming to tap into the country's burgeoning digital and outsourcing sectors. This expansion comes at a time when Irish employers are under increasing pressure to find specialized skills, making Morocco an attractive destination for recruitment. With over 14 years of experience facilitating connections between job seekers and employers—having hosted more than 80,000 candidates—Jobs Expo is launching its Moroccan operations through a dedicated platform, JOBEXPO.MA. This initiative combines in-person recruitment events in Casablanca with an innovative AI-powered platform designed to streamline the sourcing, matching, screening, and interviewing processes for candidates remotely.
Morocco's Growing Role in Global Outsourcing
Since its inception in 2012, Jobs Expo has been organizing biannual career events in major Irish cities such as Dublin, Cork, and Galway. The company adapted its recruitment model during the COVID-19 pandemic by transitioning to online platforms through VirtualRecruitment.ie, a strategy it is now implementing for the Moroccan audience. The Moroccan operation is spearheaded by Kevin Brannigan and Bronagh Cotter, with support from Recruit.ie, a Dublin-based organization that also oversees BizExpo and Construction Jobs Expo. This strategic move comes at a time when Morocco is solidifying its status as an international center for outsourcing and digital services. As of late 2024, the offshoring industry in Morocco supported approximately 148,500 jobs and generated an impressive MAD 26.22 billion in service exports, with the government targeting around 270,000 offshoring jobs and nearly MAD 40 billion in exports by 2030.
In light of ongoing international recruitment trends, the expansion into Morocco presents a timely opportunity for Irish employers. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment reported that in 2024, 39,400 employment permits were issued in Ireland, including 17,167 Critical Skills Employment Permits, with over 6,500 allocated to ICT professionals alone. Cotter, a director at Jobs Expo and founder of JOBEXPO.MA, highlighted Morocco's untapped potential as a source of talent for Irish companies, stating, "We have spent 14 years putting Irish employers in a room with the people they need to hire. Morocco has a highly educated, multilingual, and increasingly technology-focused workforce, yet it is a market that many Irish employers simply haven’t considered." The inaugural Moroccan event took place in May 2025 in Casablanca, followed by another successful edition in July 2026, which attracted 2,621 candidate registrations and participation from more than 17 employers, including notable organizations like Bank of Africa and Intelcia.
As Jobs Expo continues to evolve, it is shifting its focus from merely facilitating event attendance to building a comprehensive recruitment platform that operates year-round. Candidates registering for the 2026 event were encouraged to create detailed professional profiles and upload their CVs. The JOBEXPO.MA platform empowers employers to advertise job vacancies, search the talent database, utilize AI-driven candidate matching, and manage the entire hiring process, including applications, interviews, feedback, and offers through an integrated hiring CRM. Cotter emphasizes that this initiative does not intend to replace recruitment efforts in Ireland; rather, it aims to broaden the talent pool available to employers, providing them with an additional avenue to source skills that may be challenging to find locally. Currently, the platform boasts over 20,000 registered candidates, with approximately 68% possessing technical or technology-related qualifications. Among those who reported language proficiency, an impressive 97.6% are fluent in English, 93.8% in French, and 82.6% in Arabic.
Additionally, Ireland's Ambassador to Morocco, Helena Nolan, inaugurated the July 2026 Casablanca event, further solidifying the initiative's credibility and outreach. JOBEXPO.MA was also selected to represent Morocco’s national start-up delegation at GITEX Africa 2026, showcasing the country's growing potential on the international stage. Cotter envisions the next phase as a critical step in connecting Moroccan talent with Irish employers, asserting, "International recruitment doesn’t have to mean continually looking towards the same markets. Morocco is geographically close to Ireland, operates within a very manageable time difference, and has a growing technology and outsourcing economy."
As reported by businessplus.ie.
