Worker power is the ability of an employee to command higher wages and benefits and set terms about their working conditions. Since the 1950s, worker power has generally been on the decline as the power of corporations and shareholders grew and union strength fell.

But now the nation has the most job openings it has ever had since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking data in December 2000. There were 10.1 million job openings recorded at the end of June. That means that for every available 100 jobs, there are only 94 unemployed people available.

“​​We think of worker power as basically where the balance of power lies in the employment relationship between the employee and the worker,” said Anna Stansbury, a labor economist and assistant professor of work and organization studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “People might think, ‘How much leverage do I have to ask for a pay rise? Or to say no if my boss asked me to do something that I think is unsafe?’”