In my experience, many people (I don't like the word 'middlings' for some reason) think job to job instead of about a career. And then they have job problems.
Likewise, many people think paycheck to paycheck instead about longer-term finances. And then they have cash flow problems.
Isn't part of the solution to get employers and employees to talk to each other in terms of career trajectory, professional development, and skills marketability?
Couldn't part of the power imbalance be solved by getting employers to think again about giving out dead end jobs in dying industries? Right now we put the onus on the employee to recognize the problem and demand a better deal. Assuming automated freight trucks become a thing, shouldn't trucking companies say, "Hey, work for us. We'll have you trained for better jobs by the time the truck drives itself!"?
This is where government action will be required; this is a society-wide problem that needs a society-wide solution.
I guess I'll read the book now if it isn't too expensive (or even available in my region!), but I think many of these ideas about mutually beneficial employment only really works where power is relatively well balanced - in other words the employer can't get rid of you or treat you badly because you are irreplaceable it very hard to replace, and the employee has loyalty towards the company.
The instant this changes, then one party will often be largely unfairly affected.
That's the difference between the powerful and the powerless. The powerful thinks the imbalance is a fact that will never change; the powerless thinks that must change.
The problem in corporate world nowadays is that the powerful people disguise this difference all the time. For example : "hey, you can negotiate your salary and if you disagree, you have total freedom to go somewhere else. How powerful you are !"
I'll sure read your book, but I'm under the impression I'll see another, maybe very sophisticated disguise...
(yes you can call me a "socialist" (in the European sense) :-) because all of this is super political in fact)
But the bigger issue is that people have ended up in a position where they are powerless. And that is because the system doesn't see them as valuable. In an economic sense, unskilled labor isn't that valuable. But in a philosophical sense, those human beings are part of a society that should be looking out for them.
The best instrument of change in this case is government action (which I suppose means that holding this opinion also makes me a little bit socialist).
The root cause of the problem, at least in the United States, is that our educational system (aided and abetted by institutional discrimination and/or neglect) has failed to give many of its citizens the skills and knowledge they need. Furthermore, the social safety net is both inconsistent and insufficient.
As a mere business book author, I have a hard time tackling such problems, though I've certainly offered my opinions.
The situation when a person has to accept intimidation or even abuse at work is not much different from slavery.
True, top talent has less to worry about since any setback in employment is easily reversible. Many (most) don't have that luxury. These are the ones for whom the new economy is angst inducing and a bit intimidating and who look back with fondness and melancholy at the old less tumultuous economy before the new management style took over.