The organisation and regulation of a labor force were essential components in the overall planned economy of the GDR. SED leadership, the State Planning Commission and the Labor Administration sought to regulate the labor market on a long term basis. This did not occur immediately after the end of WWII, but came about only over a prolonged period of time. The setting up of a labor force and its regulation was caused by two outside factors: the reparations payments demanded by the Soviet occupying power and the mass exodus of workers to West Germany in the early 1950's. The negative experience with the practice of compulsory work assignment, particularly in the uranium mines of Saxony and Thuringia, brought about a change in the methods of control. Since the Soviet need for a work force decreased fairly soon, compulsory labor was quickly abandoned. Instead, labor recruitment became a method of operation, which, because of its high fluctuation rate, was nevertheless criticized. Both the moving about of the work force within the GDR as well as the flight from the GDR to the West were factors beyond the control of regulatory agencies and limited their ability to manoeuver. Yet, reverting to the rigid method of compulsory labor of the late 40's was out of the question for the SED leadership and the GDR's Council of Ministers.
