In his early life Pearce worked stacking shelves in a supermarket, as a crew member for McDonald's, as a waiter in a pub, in sales selling computers, as a shop assistant in an off-licence, boxing chocolates in the Thorntons factory in Belper and as a car park attendant.

He spent the following 14 years as an employment lawyer, specialising in workers' rights and discrimination law, becoming a partner at healthcare specialist firm Hempsons in 2020.

[8] Pearce made his maiden speech during the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill on 29 July, where he said that "When I was young, my father worked on British Rail as a storeman."

[10] On 6 August, Pearce announced that, in partnership with Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward, students in High Peak attending college in Greater Manchester would receive free bus travel, delivering on a key local campaign pledge.

[12] Following the publication in December 2024 of a white paper proposing detail for the forthcoming English Devolution Bill, Pearce announced his support to merge all or part of the Borough of High Peak into Greater Manchester.