Between Loyalty and Merit: The Dynamics of Internal and External Hiring in Moroccan Companies

This study investigates how Moroccan organizations manage the balance between internal and external recruitment by focusing on managerial employee’s perceptions of fairness, transparency, and merit-based practices in promotion and internal hiring. Anchored in contemporary human resource management and organizational theory, the research demonstrates that internal recruitment allows organizations to capitalize on firm-specific human capital, strengthen employee commitment, reduce turnover, and promote organizational stability in sectors such as banking, telecommunications, energy, and public administration. However, an excessive reliance on internal mobility may limit cognitive diversity, slow skill renewal, and reinforce informal networks, ultimately constraining adaptability and innovation. These limitations emphasize the strategic role of external recruitment in bringing new competencies and diverse perspectives that foster organizational learning and renewal. The empirical findings are drawn from 40 semi-structured interviews with middle and senior managers in Casablanca and Rabat. Results indicate that favoritism and informally managed networks weaken trust in human resource systems and negatively affect employee engagement. In contrast, transparent procedures, well-defined selection criteria, and ethical leadership significantly enhance perceptions of fairness and legitimacy. The study concludes that hybrid talent management strategies, integrating internal employee development with targeted external hiring, offer the most effective balance between organizational continuity, cost efficiency, and innovation. It contributes to research on internal labor markets and provides practical insights for Moroccan organizations seeking to modernize talent management practices in the context of digital transformation and persistent skill shortages.