The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Defensive
Albertsons (ACI)
A grocer with part-time and union shares. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-02-28, filed 2026-04-27. Ranked 8 of the 16 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states the total, the part-time share and the union count, and nothing by kind of work, so the store and distribution patterns follow the description.
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 20% now, 23% at the end of 2027, 23% at the end of 2028, 23% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 23% desk work, 19% people work and 58% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 77% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 12% becomes checking a model's work and 11% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
280,000 employees as of 2026-02-28 (stated). The filing calls the company one of the largest food and drug retailers in the U.S. and does not state a count by country.
The filing: “As of February 28, 2026, we employed approximately 280,000 associates, of which approximately 62% were part-time and approximately 190,000 associates were covered by collective bargaining agreements.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only) | 95% | By (c): the filing states the total, the part-time share and the union count but no headcount by kind of work, and describes a food and drug retailer operating 22 supermarket banners, so nearly all of the workforce is read into the food and beverage retail pattern by description, with in-store pharmacies inside it. |
| Warehousing and Storage | 5% | By (c): a grocer's distribution operations, which the filing does not count, take a small share by description. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 280,000 associates, 62% part-time, about 190,000 under collective bargaining agreements; more than 56,000 with at least 15 years of service.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only), largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Kroger (KR, 403,000 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
20 sentences in the filing name AI. AI appears in the risk factors, including that collective bargaining agreements may limit automation or artificial intelligence changes in some operations, and in the discussion of cost reductions; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements and may adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations include: changes in macroeconomic conditions such as rates of food price inflation or deflation, fuel and commodity prices and macroeconomic uncertainty, including in international trade and current and potential future tari...”
- “We may be limited in our ability to implement automation-related technological changes or artificial intelligence in certain of our operations if we are unable to negotiate appropriate terms in our contracts with our labor unions.”
- “Our failure to achieve forecasted revenue growth, gross margin improvement or cost reductions could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and operating results. 14 Table of Contents Failure to timely identify or respond to evolving consumer preferences, including changes in how customers use digital and AI-driven tools, could adversely affect our customer relationships, demand and...”
- “The emergence of artificial intelligence‑powered agentic shopping tools, through which AI agents autonomously research, compare and purchase products on behalf of consumers, could further disrupt traditional grocery retail.”
- “If customers increasingly rely on these tools and AI agents prioritize factors such as price or speed over retailer preference or brand loyalty, we could lose our direct relationship with customers.”
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | 280,000 | 2026-04-27 | 10-K |
| 2025-02-22 | 285,000 | 2025-04-21 | 10-K |
| 2024-02-24 | 285,000 | 2024-04-22 | 10-K |
| 2023-02-25 | 290,000 | 2023-04-25 | 10-K |
| 2022-02-26 | 290,000 | 2022-04-26 | 10-K |
| 2021-02-27 | 300,000 | 2021-04-28 | 10-K |
| 2020-02-29 | 270,000 | 2020-05-13 | 10-K |
| 2019-02-23 | 267,000 | 2019-04-24 | 10-K |
| 2018-02-24 | 275,000 | 2018-05-11 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No headcount by kind of work is stated; both pattern shares follow the business description (c).
- The share in the U.S. is not stated as a number.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001646972-26-000032, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Questions about this company
- How much of Albertsons's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 20% now and 23% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Albertsons's own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does Albertsons employ?
- 280,000 as of February 28, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending February 28, 2026 states.
- What kinds of work make up Albertsons's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only); by those patterns the work is about 23% desk work, 19% people work and 58% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Albertsons's annual report say about AI?
- 20 sentences in the filing name AI. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 1, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.