Recently I caught a televised talk by Steven Greenhouse, author of a new book, badly titled The Big Squeeze. See http://www.yourmidlifecareer.com/bigsqueeze.html

If you want to know why it’s a bad title, just google “Big Squeeze” in any search engine. See what comes up.

Greenhouse warn that workers at all levels face increasing pressures from employers. For example, a hotel maid cleans the same number of rooms. But now she changes 3 sheets instead of 1 and 5 pillowcases instead of 2.

A college professor says, “I write objectives for classes, test dozens papers for plagiarism and create web pages…plus everything I did before.”

No easy answers – and some readers will disagree vehemently with my views. Please post comments by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.

(1) Think “empowerment,” not “entitlement.”

Sure, I believe companies need to treat employees humanely. I get furious when I read about sex, race, age and any other form of discrimination.

But in the short term, I would think of gaining power.

I’m not saying quit your job. But I am saying, “Work toward the goal of being able to say, ‘Take this job and…’” when the time is right.

You gain power by having a healthy nest egg, being marketable, starting your own business on the side, and/or developing a skill that few people have but many people want.

(2) Squeeze your company’s opportunities.

“Sylvia” likes her job but knows she’ll need to switch companies someday.

“Education would make me marketable,” she said, “but we have limited tuition reimbursement.”

“Limited is not zero,” I said. Sylvia should be using every dime to take courses and/or attend seminars where she can build her network.

(3) Work where it counts.

My friend “Ken,” a math professor, spends hours grading homework — an effort appreciated neither by his students nor his department chair.

“Linda” admits she rewrites every memo and answers every email. Her colleagues tell her, “If you ignore them, nobody notices.”

Sometimes you really can’t cut anything out of your day or your job. You need a change.

But sometimes you can create systems, say no to non-essentials and decide what’s safe to ignore.

Bottom Line: One of my favorite career books is JobShift by William Bridges. Written over a decade ago, Bridges reminds readers that you work for yourself even when you work for a company. You’re not a family. You’re a contractor. A very timely mindset for the 21st century.