The peculiarities of the Brazilian neoliberal conjuncture produce increasingly complex expressions of an expanded and austere social question. The vicissitudes generated in this context of hegemony of financial capital foster deleterious effects on the working class, such as the process of precariousness of work, expressed through the flexibilization of labor relations, derisory wages, outsourcing, temporary contracts, social unprotection, increased unemployment affecting the interior of the working class and its trade union movement on a daily basis. This process drags the worker into a condition of precariousness, in which instability and insecurity are the common thread for their exploitation. The Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (Comperj), renamed the GasLub Complex in Itaboraí/RJ, was one of the most imposing works of the federal government and the largest single undertaking in the entire history of Petrobras, which planted the promise of creating about 200 thousand direct and indirect jobs. Similarly, with great expectations of economic development, the Enseada do Paraguaçu Shipyard in Maragogipe caused a population increase for the Recôncavo region of Bahia in search of employment and better living conditions. In the period from 2014 to 2017, Brazil faced a number of economic challenges, including recession, political instability, and high unemployment. These factors contributed to the slowdown and stoppage of more than 14,000 works across the country, which generated a process of mass layoffs both at Comperj and at the Shipyard. The partial and political investigation conducted by Operation Car Wash, driven by the mainstream media, in which several companies with contracts at Comperj and the Shipyard were involved, impacted the Brazilian economy as a whole, severely affecting service providers. This study aimed to continue the research started in the academic master s degree, examining the aspects arising from the implications of the work stoppage in the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro (Comperj), with the construction workers after the mass layoffs, observing how this process developed in other locations, such as the Enseada do Paraguaçu Shipyard, where workers were also affected by the interruption of the works in 2014. To this end, through a qualitative approach, research instruments such as bibliographic research, documentary research, with examination of records related to the theme addressed and interviews with workers from Comperj and the Shipyard, analyzing their narratives of occupational trajectory, were used. The research shows how the process of interruption of the works was harmful to the workers, leading them to precariousness in unstable working conditions, low wages, lack of benefits and prolonged unemployment. In addition, this process of job insecurity not only affected the laid-off individuals, but also had impacts on the community and the local economy. This study sought to understand the precarious condition experienced by these contracted workers who became unemployed in both regions in 2014, observing how these stoppages of large works have been presented as an archetype in Brazil in recent years.