The question may seem easy to answer - “my boss, my company, ‘the man.’” But it’s a question worth asking yourself because, perhaps you are unhappy to be working for someone other than yourself. There is ample research that shows that as autonomy over ones work goes down, one’s mental and physical health gets worse.
Perhaps you, alone, don’t have the resources to start a small business. Maybe you and your colleagues can start a cooperative. Cooperatively owned businesses are owned by the people who work at them. For example, Cooperative Home Care Associates is a cooperative of home health aides in the Bronx. When I worked on inpatient units in hospitals, I sometimes had to connect patients with home health aide services. I remember being shocked by the number of layers of bureaucracy involved. Then I got to see how much Medicaid paid for home health aide service - it was around $35 per hour. Yet, the aides themselves were taking home as little as $9 per hour. What became of the other $26? The agencies, intermediary contractors and others all got a piece. The women of CHCA apparently grew tired of earning money for others, but little for themselves. So they worked cooperatively, something at which humans excel. I’m guessing they are some of the hardest working and conscientious home health aides out there too.
How much harder could you work, how much happier would your work day be, if you knew you were working for yourself?