Hidden unemployment in Polish industry (1945–1956)
Hidden unemployment in Polish industry (1945–1956)

Summary/Abstract: One of the main factors determining the weakness of the socialist economy wasthe phenomenon of hidden unemployment, which means excessive employment in indus-trial plants in relation to needs. This phenomenon should be considered in two aspects:economic and social. The aim of this article is to determine the economic and social conse-quences of the phenomenon of hidden unemployment in the Polish economy in the firstyears after the WWII. The article is based on the literature on the subject, as well as sourceresearch conducted at the Archives of New Records and the Archives of the Institute ofNational Remembrance in Warsaw. To analyze the socio-demographic characteristics ofthe staff of four industrial plants, the personal files of employees collected in the plant ar-chives were used. The research conducted indicates that one of the main sources of weak-ness of the socialist economy was the situation on the labor market, and especially the phe-nomenon of over-employment. In the economic sphere, it meant that the dominance of anexcessive number of low-skilled workers in the composition of the industrial workforceresulted in poor labor productivity, abysmal production quality, non-compliance withstandards in technological processes, destruction of work ethics, poor discipline, increasedpersonnel turnover, etc. It is a measure of the irrationality of the system that the employ-ment of a significant proportion of these workers was not the result of either economic orsocial necessity, but a consequence of the erroneous economic development model adopt-ed, based on the use of low-skilled and poorly paid labor. In social terms, however, the em-ployment of these people meant that the communist regime could count on relatively con-siderable public support among them. Authoritarian, non-democratic parties (such as thePPR and PZPR), appealing to populist slogans and fomenting conflicts with other socialgroups corresponded in terms of their programs and modus operandi to people with highlevels of authoritarian attitudes.

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