The latest episode of You Should Know, hosted by William Tincup of WRKdefined, features a substantive conversation with Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Managing Director of the Schultz Family Foundation. The trio unpacks Where You Work Matters, a newly expanded workforce analytics project that grades 1,750 of America's largest employers on the actual career outcomes of their workers. In a labor market where entry-level roles are eroding and AI is reshaping hiring, the discussion arrives at a moment of urgent relevance for HR leaders, workers, and job seekers.
Listeners get a detailed look at how the research works and what it exposes. Key threads include: how a database of 12 million career histories across 1,800 companies measures promotion velocity, retention, pay growth, and regrettable turnover; why the disappearance of entry-level jobs, flagged in a recent Harvard Business Review article, threatens the future talent pipeline; and the concept of "mobility muscle" and how firms like Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Salesforce, Apple, and Whole Foods stack up role by role.
Sigelman explains the methodology in plain terms, cutting through employer 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, describing the core question behind the American Opportunity Index and its successor project. Tincup pushes back on conventional HR wisdom, arguing that regrettable turnover, not raw turnover, is the metric that matters. Chandrasekaran and Sigelman agree, and add that transparency benefits workers too.
The conversation goes deep on findings that defy expectations. Only 22 of roughly 1,750 companies earned Platinum ratings across every category measured. Of the hundreds of firms employing financial analysts, just 27 rated as great across early career, growth, and stability stages, and only six of those were in banking or financial services. Standouts included General Mills, Liberty Mutual, and Nike. At Whole Foods, food preparation workers fare surprisingly well because prepared foods drive margin. Chandrasekaran cites conversations with CHROs at top-rated firms who point to intentional manager conversations about career trajectory as the practice that separates leaders from laggards. The site now offers an occupation finder tool for the class of 2026, surfacing roughly 6,000 highly rated entry-level openings.
This data-driven approach provides a critical resource for HR leaders seeking to benchmark their organizations, for workers evaluating job offers, and for policymakers concerned about economic mobility. The findings underscore that where you work matters profoundly for career advancement, and the project's transparency pushes companies to improve or risk losing top talent. As the labor market evolves, such empirical evidence becomes indispensable for making informed decisions.
