EN
The turn of the 1980s and 1990s was a time of structural transformation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It was a time of transition from a socialist economy to a free market economy. Apart from the obvious changes in the economic structure, the privatisation of former state companies and rationalisation of the management process, the process of transformation resulted in socio-economic effects that are felt until the present day. The biggest shock for the societies of the former communist bloc countries, was the emergence of unemployment, unknown under the previous system. The present paper discusses general assumptions of the transformation process and its history. The author's main objective was to analyse the rise in unemployment as a result of economic transformation. The studied area was the District of Gniezno, in which the negative socio-economic effects of system changes are still clearly visible.