Neoliberalism, Informal Employment and Post-Communist Economies: A Tale of a Debt-Seized Worker

This article examines the impact of neoliberal economic policies on workers in post-communist economies, with a particular focus on the rise of informal employment. Using the life story of David, a worker in the Czech Republic, we trace the trajectory of labour precarity from the 1990s to the present. During the 1990s, the rapid opening of the personal credit market –without adequate regulatory safeguards – led to a surge in household debt. At the same time, unemployment, previously non-existent due to the state’s system of compulsory employment under communism, became a widespread issue. As a result, a significant number of workers found themselves trapped in a cycle of debt enforcement, which in turn pushed them into informal employment as a means of survival. Through his case, we argue that debt functions as a structural mechanism that entrenches informality, further reinforcing the asymmetrical power relationship between capital and labour in post-communist economies.