As the labor market grapples with the erosion of entry-level roles and the rise of AI, a new workforce analytics project offers a data-driven look at which employers actually deliver on career advancement. The initiative, Where You Work Matters, grades 1,750 of America's largest employers based on the real career outcomes of 12 million workers. The findings are sobering: only 22 companies earned Platinum ratings across every measured category, underscoring a widespread gap between employer promises and actual results.
The project's methodology, explained by Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, cuts through marketing claims to focus on empirical outcomes. "If two people start in the same role at directly competing firms, how likely are they each to move up? How likely are they each to stay? How does their pay change over time?" Sigelman asks. These questions drive the American Opportunity Index and its successor, which measure promotion velocity, retention, pay growth, and regrettable turnover—employees who leave for better opportunities, which HR experts consider a key indicator of career health.
The research reveals that career advancement is far from uniform. For instance, among hundreds of firms employing financial analysts, only 27 rated as "great" across early career, growth, and stability stages, and just six of those were in banking or financial services. Standouts include General Mills, Liberty Mutual, and Nike. The findings also highlight the importance of role-specific dynamics: at Whole Foods, food preparation workers fare surprisingly well because prepared foods drive margins, demonstrating that a company's overall reputation may not reflect the experience in every job function.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Managing Director of the Schultz Family Foundation, notes that conversations with CHROs at top-rated firms point to a common practice: intentional manager conversations about career trajectory. This "mobility muscle" separates leaders from laggards, and the data supports its impact. The project also introduces an occupation finder tool for the class of 2026, surfacing roughly 6,000 highly rated entry-level openings, which is critical as the disappearance of entry-level jobs threatens the future talent pipeline.
The discussion, featured on the You Should Know podcast hosted by William Tincup, challenges conventional HR wisdom. Tincup argues that regrettable turnover, not raw turnover, is the metric that matters, a point with which Sigelman and Chandrasekaran agree. Transparency benefits workers, who can use this data to make informed career choices, and employers, who can benchmark their practices against the best.
The implications for HR leaders are clear: career development must be intentional and data-driven, not a marketing slogan. As AI reshapes hiring and entry-level roles become scarcer, the ability to retain and promote talent will be a competitive advantage. The full Where You Work Matters dataset is available at whereyouworkmatters.org, offering a resource for both employers and job seekers to navigate the evolving landscape.
