More turn to astrology for career advice: ‘It’s very Scorpio of me’

When New York-based Autumn Myers, 31, was interviewing for her current digital marketing job, she pushed back the interview date so it didn’t fall during Mercury retrograde. “Those jobs have always ended up in more grief for me,” she tells Fast Company. 

Myers also looks up her colleagues’ zodiac signs to guide her interactions with them. For example: People born under fire signs often thrive in leadership roles, but they can struggle with impulsiveness. Earth signs tend to be more dependable, but they can be risk-averse. 

“It’s very Scorpio of me to be that calculated,” she admits. “But it’s needed sometimes.”

Myers isn’t alone. According to a 2024 Harris Poll of more than 2,000 U.S. adults, some 70% say they either “somewhat” or “strongly” believe in astrology, with 69% of millennials turning to it for comfort and confidence during challenging moments. 

It’s also a massive global business. According to industry reports, the astrology industry will top $22 billion by 2031. 

Whether it’s Dior’s zodiac-themed line, astrology influencers posting videos to huge audiences on TikTok, or audio streamers like Spotify curating playlists based on your zodiac sign, the millennia-old belief system has continued to become more and more mainstream over the past few years, especially among millennials and Gen Zers.

The Co-Star app, which uses AI to combine NASA data with the predictions of professional astrologers, has over 30 million global users. There are work-focused astrology tools, too, like Bizmos, a “project management tool with the ability to forecast the optimal month, week, or day for completing certain tasks and achieving goals.” And more than 6 million videos can be found under TikTok’s astrology hashtag. 

“It’s kind of hard to ignore astrology when everyone’s talking about it,” Myers says. 

In times of economic uncertainty, political turmoil, and a tumultuous job market—layoffs hit record highs last year—it’s no surprise that people are seeking comfort and advice from farther afield. 

And since we’re talking about things that involve light-years . . . perhaps the farthest afield.

Personalized goal-setting

According to a 2025 survey of 2,000 Gen Zers by writing platform EduBirdie, 27% of Gen Z men and 16% of Gen Z women say they let the universe choose their career path. But folks have been consulting the heavens long before today’s zoomers at work. 

The practice of astrology originated in ancient Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C. A widely accepted subject taught at universities during the Middle Ages, astrology was closely intertwined with sciences like astronomy, medicine, and philosophy. That all stopped around the 1700s during the Scientific Revolution, and despite a resurgence during the New Age movement in the 1970s, many dismiss astrology as magical thinking or frivolous woo-woo. 

At its core, astrology holds that celestial events in the cosmos reflect what happens on Earth. Some believe that the actual transits of planets and positioning of stars directly influence our lives; others simply use astrology as an invitation to spot archetypal patterns in their lives, and then apply those lessons in productive ways. For example, in need of inspiration? See where Aquarius shows up in your birth chart—the sign most associated with innovation. That’s the area of life where you can naturally think outside the box, astrology holds.

Brand strategist Giselle La Pompe-Moore, 36, checks what astrological season we’re in every month to guide her work and how she interacts with customers. During Sagittarius season (November 22 to December 21), she’ll focus on broader strategies and larger frameworks to do with her business, since Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the planet tied to expansion and progress. 

Or she’ll consult her birth chart for hints about her personality and life themes. At the time of her birth, multiple planets were in Capricorn’s region of the sky; since Capricorn’s archetype is about structure and discipline, she takes this as a guide on the optimal way she should approach her long-term goals.

“I think business advice often sticks to the business as this entity. It kind of forgets that the business is run by a person,” La Pompe-Moore says. “Astrology really speaks to that.” 

A way to work that feels “more natural”

Many proponents will say that astrology is most useful as a spiritual framework, not a crystal ball that predicts the future. They say that astrology helps us to navigate emotional challenges and relationships, and to find greater balance in our lives.

Jessica Maniatis, 44, consults the stars in her work as a coach to founders of small to scaling businesses. She creates reports that include clients’ birth charts, and also brings in other self-discovery tools, like the Enneagram, which attempts to outline people’s core fears and defense mechanisms. 

“The first half of the report is a breakdown of their charts, and the second half—and this is a 100-plus-page report—is really how they all overlay,” Maniatis explains. From there, she offers clients insights into the best ways to approach issues, from decision-making to self-regulation. 

“What I’ve seen with my clients is that none of this information is necessarily new—they’re seeing themselves reflected back to them,” she says. “It almost gives them permission to approach life and work in a way that feels much more natural to them.”

For the corporate lawyer who posts anonymously on TikTok under the handle @astrologybro, astrology didn’t tell him to go into law. “But it can help you understand your individuality and your strengths and weaknesses,” he says, which “can give you a richer domain of reflection.” 

He explains that astrology’s use lies in prompting oneself to ask certain questions—in his case: “What would I like to do, and how does being a lawyer contribute or not contribute to that?” 

Rachel Ruth Tate, a full-time consulting astrologer, also finds astrology a neutral, shorthand language for patterns or behavior that may otherwise be trickier to identify and articulate on your own. For example, if you’re a hotheaded, blunt communicator, an astrologer might invite you to see where Mars (the planet of drive and anger) shows up in your chart. From there, you can spend time introspecting how that fiery energy shows up in your behavior and life—in good ways and bad. 

Those who get it, get it: “Me saying that you have a moon in Capricorn is easier than me telling you you’ll often work yourself into a corner because you’re a workaholic,” Tate tells Fast Company. 

Utilizing a “flexible language” for decisions

For nonbelievers, astrology is written off as a pseudoscience or sometimes an outright moneymaking scam. But instead of debating whether or not it’s “real,” it’s perhaps more useful to consider what its widespread appeal says about modern life, says Shiri Noy, associate professor of sociology at Denison University in Ohio. 

Noy was a coauthor on a study about astrology’s contemporary uses, which was published last year in Social Currents, the official peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Sociological Society. “Astrology’s popularity reflects a broader moment of social, economic, and political uncertainty,” Noy tells Fast Company. 

Nowadays, “traditional sources of authority—religion, institutions, expertise—feel less stable or less trusted,” she says. Research has shown that people are more likely to be drawn to divinatory practices in times of uncertainty—something there’s no short order of in 2026. 

“For many users, astrology isn’t about believing the stars control their fate,” Noy says. “Instead, it operates as a flexible language for thinking about identity, relationships, timing, and choices—similar to personality tests or therapeutic frameworks.”

Astrological charts are typically open to interpretation, and are highly individualized. As any astrologer will tell you, no two Geminis or Leos are the same. “People are obsessed with being one sign or another, because it’s easy to attach an identity to that,” says Scarlett Woodford, 37, founder of a PR agency for brands who wish to be guided by divine or cosmic timing. For example, Leos are often stereotyped as relishing in the spotlight—but depending on what else is in your chart, you might not instantly relate to being the center of attention and find that your Leo energy shows up in less obvious ways. 

“It’s definitely worth seeing the bigger picture,” Woodford says. 

Finding the perfect job

“I think millennials as a generation [are] more open to seeking alternative ways of understanding their place in the universe,” says Chris Brennan, professional astrologer and host of The Astrology Podcast, which has more than 250,000 subscribers on YouTube. He says they’re also more likely to “take advantage of any available tools that might help them to navigate the world during these increasingly uncertain times.”

In a time of shifting workplace norms—where remote work and portfolio careers are increasingly common, and the traditional career ladder shakier than ever—workers have never had more agency over how they choose to work. For some, especially younger folks like Gen Zers and millennials, consulting the stars is part of that path. 

Content creator Amelie Polk says, “To find your optimal career, you’ll want to look into your​ whole chart: mainly the Midheaven, North Node, Saturn sign, and second house.”

That might sound like a foreign language to laypeople. But astrology fans say using the bevy of online astrology tools and apps out there to dive into your birth chart, and spot patterns or invite self-questioning, might trigger certain intuitive “aha” moments. For instance, depending on which planets were in which location at the time of your birth, that could help determine whether you’d benefit from a nurturing, slower-paced work environment or a faster, more competitive one. 

“This career is gonna be good for you. This career won’t work for you,” Polk says. “This will burn you out. This won’t.”

Don’t just take an astrologer’s word for it: Famous businesspeople and politicians have been rumored to credit astrology with some of their success. As J.P. Morgan famously did—or didn’t—say: “Millionaires don’t use astrology. Billionaires do.” Or as one former aide told The New York Times, look to President Ronald Reagan reportedly timing the announcement of his reelection campaign after consulting astrological signs.

For Myers, she’s also used astrology to guide her decision-making at work. After paying closer attention to her birth chart, she made the decision to step down from her role as director at her company to be a senior strategist. “I realized I don’t want to be climbing the corporate ladder,” she says. 

Understanding astrological patterns has, in many ways, regulated Myers’ nervous system at work, too: “New York is an intense city, and advertising can be an intense field,” she says. But, she adds, astrology provides perspective.

“Astrology has actually made me feel more like—it’s not that deep.”

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