A. O. Smith Corporation (AOS)
Water heaters and boilers, 57% North America. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 10, 2026. Ranked 99 of the 175 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
18%
End of 2028
30%
Employees, annual report
11,500
Leading staffing pattern
Household Appliance Manufacturing
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now18%
- End of 202727%
- End of 202830%
- End of 203031%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 68%
- Becomes checking a model's work 25%
- Handed over with lighter checks 5%
A. O. Smith states approximately 11,500 employees at December 31, 2025, 6,500 in North America and 5,000 in the rest of the world (4,200 in China), making water heaters, boilers and water treatment products with no count by product line, so the split between household appliances and heating equipment is by description (c).
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: 18% now, 27% at the end of 2027, 30% at the end of 2028, 31% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 31% desk work, 17% people work and 52% 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 68% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 25% becomes checking a model's work and 5% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
11,500 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). The filing counts 6,500 in North America (57%) and 5,000 in the rest of the world, 4,200 of them in China; the U.S. alone is not stated.
The filing: “HUMAN CAPITAL We employed approximately 11,500 employees as of December 31, 2025 with approximately 6,500 in North America and 5,000 in Rest of World.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Household Appliance Manufacturing | 70% | Residential water heaters, the company's main product line in North America and China, are household appliances, and the filing counts no employees by product line, so they take seven tenths by description (c). |
| Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only) | 30% | Commercial water heaters, boilers and water treatment products, counted by no employee figure, take the rest by description (c) at the machinery group that holds heating equipment. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 6,500 in North America and 5,000 in the rest of the world, 4,200 of them in China; a small portion of the U.S. workforce is union represented and some employees abroad by employee associations, unions or works councils; the count fell from 12,700 a year earlier.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Household Appliance Manufacturing, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Whirlpool Corporation (WHR, 41,000 employees)18% now, 28% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
3 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI software among the tools competitors may use more effectively and as a risk of unintended disclosure of proprietary or personal information; nothing on its own use in the excerpt.
- “There is also increasing use of data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence software, which our competitors may be able to use more effectively or implement more successfully than we are able to do.”
- “Use of artificial intelligence software may also create risks from unintentional disclosure of proprietary, confidential, personal or otherwise sensitive information.”
- “Howe (55) Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Information Officer 2025 to Present Chief Executive Officer - Rise and Shift (consulting firm focused on cloud transformation, digital product development, and AI/ML solutions) 2023 to 2025 Senior Vice President - Business Transformation - 3M Company (manufacturer of building materials, adhesives, medical and home cleaning supplies) 2018 to 2023 Vi...”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 20210median 0
- Fiscal 20220median 0
- Fiscal 20232median 1
- Fiscal 20242median 4
- Fiscal 20253median 10
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 11,500 | 2026-02-10 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 12,700 | 2025-02-11 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 12,000 | 2024-02-13 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 12,000 | 2023-02-14 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 13,700 | 2022-02-11 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 13,900 | 2021-02-12 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 15,100 | 2020-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 16,300 | 2019-02-15 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 16,100 | 2018-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 15,500 | 2017-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 13,400 | 2016-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 12,400 | 2015-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 11,400 | 2014-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 10,900 | 2013-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 10,600 | 2012-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 10,400 | 2011-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 16,000 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 15,350 | 2009-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 16,800 | 2008-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 18,000 | 2007-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 17,650 | 2006-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 16,600 | 2005-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-13 | 17,000 | 2004-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 16,200 | 2003-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 14,800 | 2002-02-21 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-12-31 | 13,800 | 2001-02-22 | 10-K405 |
| 1999-12-31 | 15,100 | 2000-03-03 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-31 | 9,700 | 1999-03-24 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 8,400 | 1998-03-23 | 10-K405 |
| 1996-12-31 | 7,700 | 1997-03-27 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-31 | 13,000 | 1996-03-26 | 10-K |
| 1994-12-31 | 12,100 | 1995-03-22 | 10-K405 |
| 1993-12-31 | 10,800 | 1994-03-23 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by product line: the split between household appliances and heating equipment is by description (c); the filing's segments are geographic.
- The U.S. share is not stated; North America holds 57%.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000091142-26-000008, 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.
The report on A. O. Smith Corporation, $29
This page as a document to keep, with what it does not show: the share within reach at every date on three paces and two reliabilities, a typical workforce of this shape at the stated headcount role by role and task by task (the industries' staffing, never the company's roster), where to start, what changes for the people and what they would learn, every sentence in the filing that names AI, the headcount by year, the companies read with the same leading pattern, the method and a citation line. To print or save as a PDF, open again in your browser for a year.
See the report, $29See the sample first: Walmart's report is free
Questions about this company
- How much of A. O. Smith Corporation's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 18% now and 30% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce A. O. Smith Corporation'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 A. O. Smith Corporation employ?
- 11,500 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up A. O. Smith Corporation's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Household Appliance Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 31% desk work, 17% people work and 52% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does A. O. Smith Corporation's annual report say about AI?
- 3 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 2, 2 and 3 sentences, year by year. 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 19, 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.