Pivots Without Pathways: Career Navigation in a Fragmented Labor Market
- Project on Workforce Team
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
This report details findings from a two-year, mixed-methods study examining how low-wage workers and community college students navigate their careers, including how they access, interpret, and use education and career information.
Authors: Joseph B. Fuller, Kerry McKittrick, Amanda Holloway, Rony Rodriguez Ramirez, Candace Megerssa, and Allyson Dennis
Careers are increasingly defined by pivots, rather than pathways, as individuals navigate a fragmented and volatile labor market. As job requirements and career paths become less linear, workers and learners must make more frequent, complex decisions– often with limited guidance and under conditions of uncertainty.
Yet the systems designed to support mobility have not kept pace. Education and workforce systems remain oriented around stable, predictable pathways rather than the ongoing continuous process of career navigation. As a result, access to critical resources– reliable information, social networks, job conditions, and career coaching– remains unevenly distributed.
This report draws on a two-year mixed-methods study, including a nationally representative survey of low-wage workers and community college students, as well as interviews and focus groups with workers, students, and career coaches. Our research examines how individuals gather and interpret career information, respond to disruption, build skills, and pursue career advancement.
Our findings suggest that disparities in career navigation resources constrain individuals’ ability to access economic opportunity and investments to support effective career navigation should be assessed as a public good.
Key Findings
Careers are shaped by repeated pivots, often in response to external shocks. Careers are marked by frequent transitions rather than steady, linear progression, with nearly half of moves being lateral or reactive. Mobility depends less on following a predefined path and more on the ability to navigate changes, with outcomes shaped by access to information, networks, job quality, and coaching.
Information is abundant but unreliable–and difficult to interpret. Participants reported widespread access to online career information, but limited confidence in its accuracy and utility. Misleading job postings and automated hiring systems lead to strong mistrust and confusion. The main challenge is interpretation: without trusted guidance (e.g., career coaches or employment specialists), individuals struggle to translate information into concrete decisions and next steps.
Social capital shapes access to opportunity. Family and friends are the most common sources of career information, but such networks often reinforce existing patterns of employment, particularly in low-wage jobs. Connections that bridge sectors and income levels are less common but critical, especially in an increasingly AI-mediated hiring environment where referrals and internal endorsements often determine who advances.
Job quality enables–or constrains–the capacity to navigate. Wages, schedules, and commutes directly influenced participants’ ability to engage in career navigation activities. When basic needs are unmet, workers prioritize immediate income over long-term mobility. A living wage functions as a threshold condition for effective career navigation; beyond that, advancement opportunities and workplace support become key drivers for job preference.
Navigation skills are critical but developed through trial and error. Skills like self-advocacy, persistence, and networking are essential– but typically developed through experience, rather than formal instruction. As careers become more dynamic, such “navigation skills” are increasingly essential. Yet structured opportunities to build them remain limited, leaving many individuals to learn through experience rather than guided support.
Career guidance is essential but under-resourced. Career coaches help individuals interpret information, identify and access opportunities, and maintain momentum during transitions. Yet, access to coaching services remains limited. High caseloads and limited resources constrain their impact. In practice, many provide support far beyond career advising, including helping clients access housing, childcare, and health coverage.
Career navigation is the ongoing process of acquiring information, making decisions, and taking action in pursuit of career goals. As labor markets become more dynamic and less predictable and AI continues to disrupt careers, this capability increasingly determines who progresses and who stalls.
Policymakers, educators, employers, and intermediaries must coordinate to build navigation infrastructure that provides equitable access to reliable information, professional networks, economic stability, navigation skills, and institutional guidance. Without it, workers and learners will continue to shoulder the risk of stagnation and enjoy fewer opportunities to advance.
Please direct inquiries to: Kerry McKittrick (kerry_mckittrick@gse.harvard.edu)
Suggested Citation: Joseph B. Fuller, Kerry McKittrick et al., (Spring 2026). Pivots Without Pathways: Career Navigation in a Fragmented Labor Market. Published by Harvard Kennedy School.