Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD)
Industrial gases, three quarters abroad. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending September 30, 2025, filed November 20, 2025. Ranked 4 of the 15 Basic Materials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
20%
End of 2028
37%
Employees, annual report
21,300
Leading staffing pattern
Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only)
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now20%
- End of 202732%
- End of 202837%
- End of 203039%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 61%
- Becomes checking a model's work 33%
- Handed over with lighter checks 4%
An industrial gases company whose filing states its total, its share abroad and its union share but nothing by segment, so one chemical pattern carries it.
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, 32% at the end of 2027, 37% at the end of 2028, 39% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 39% desk work, 13% people work and 49% 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 61% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 33% becomes checking a model's work and 4% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
21,300 employees as of September 30, 2025 (stated). Approximately 75% of the 21,300 employees are based outside the United States, so about 25% are in the U.S.
The filing: “As of 30 September 2025, we had approximately 21,300 employees, with over 99% working full-time and approximately 75% based outside the United States.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only) | 100% | By description (c): the filing describes an industrial gases company whose On-site (51% of fiscal 2025 revenue) and Merchant (44%) segments produce and deliver gases, basic chemical manufacturing in this group; the equipment sales (4%) fold in under rule 5, and the pattern applies abroad because the work is the same (rule 7). |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 21,300 employees, over 99% full-time and about 75% outside the United States; about 15% are covered by collective bargaining agreements with unions and works councils; the filing says headcount rose from about 16,300 in fiscal 2018 to about 23,000 in fiscal 2024 and that it expects headcount to stabilize at about 20,000 at the end of fiscal 2026 as it completes projects and right-sizes the organization, with restructuring costs incurred for about 3,600 employees since 2023.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 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.
- Linde plc (LIN, 65,177 employees)20% now, 39% by 2028
- Ecolab Inc. (ECL, 48,000 employees)19% now, 34% by 2028
- Dow Inc. (DOW, 34,600 employees)20% now, 37% by 2028
- Corteva, Inc. (CTVA, 21,500 employees)15% now, 25% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
2 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing's two AI sentences are risk factors: intelligent automation including AI tooling and bots may increase its and its vendors' vulnerability to attacks, and failing to develop new technologies including the application of AI could hurt its competitive position.
- “In addition, advancements in, and the deployment of, intelligent automation, including artificial intelligence tooling and "bots", may increase our and our vendors' vulnerability to such attacks.”
- “Further, if we are unsuccessful in developing new technologies, including development and application of artificial intelligence, our development activities do not keep pace with those of our competitors, or if we do not create new technologies that benefit customers, our competitive position and operating results may be negatively affected.”
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 20230median 1
- Fiscal 20241median 4
- Fiscal 20252median 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | 21,300 | 2025-11-20 | 10-K |
| 2024-09-30 | 23,000 | 2024-11-21 | 10-K |
| 2023-09-30 | 23,000 | 2023-11-16 | 10-K |
| 2022-09-30 | 21,900 | 2022-11-22 | 10-K |
| 2021-09-30 | 20,625 | 2021-11-18 | 10-K |
| 2020-09-30 | 19,275 | 2020-11-19 | 10-K |
| 2019-09-30 | 17,700 | 2019-11-26 | 10-K |
| 2018-09-30 | 16,300 | 2018-11-20 | 10-K |
| 2017-09-30 | 15,300 | 2017-11-16 | 10-K |
| 2016-09-30 | 18,600 | 2016-11-21 | 10-K |
| 2015-09-30 | 19,700 | 2015-11-24 | 10-K |
| 2014-09-30 | 21,200 | 2014-11-24 | 10-K |
| 2013-09-30 | 21,600 | 2013-11-26 | 10-K |
| 2012-09-30 | 21,300 | 2012-11-20 | 10-K |
| 2011-09-30 | 18,900 | 2011-11-22 | 10-K |
| 2010-09-30 | 18,300 | 2010-11-23 | 10-K |
| 2009-09-30 | 18,900 | 2009-11-25 | 10-K |
| 2008-09-30 | 21,100 | 2008-11-26 | 10-K |
| 2007-09-30 | 22,100 | 2007-11-28 | 10-K |
| 2006-09-30 | 20,700 | 2006-12-13 | 10-K |
| 2005-09-30 | 20,200 | 2005-11-22 | 10-K |
| 2004-09-30 | 19,900 | 2004-12-13 | 10-K |
| 2003-09-30 | 18,500 | 2003-12-12 | 10-K |
| 2002-09-30 | 17,200 | 2002-12-13 | 10-K |
| 2001-09-30 | 17,800 | 2001-12-14 | 10-K |
| 2000-09-30 | 17,500 | 2000-12-18 | 10-K405 |
| 1999-09-30 | 17,400 | 1999-12-16 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-09-30 | 16,700 | 1998-12-16 | 10-K405 |
| 1997-09-30 | 16,400 | 1997-12-11 | 10-K405 |
| 1996-09-30 | 15,200 | 1996-12-12 | 10-K405 |
| 1995-09-30 | 14,800 | 1995-12-12 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- One pattern by description (c); the filing counts no employees by segment.
- About 75% of employees are outside the United States; the pattern applies abroad because the work is the same (rule 7).
- The filing states an expected headcount of about 20,000 at the end of fiscal 2026, recorded as the filing states it.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000002969-25-000055, 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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., $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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 20% now and 37% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.'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 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. employ?
- 21,300 as of September 30, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending September 30, 2025 states. About 25% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only); by those patterns the work is about 39% desk work, 13% people work and 49% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 2 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 1 and 2 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.