Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG)
Online travel company, 24,300, 12% U.S. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 18, 2026. Ranked 1 of the 85 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
35%
End of 2028
52%
Employees, annual report
24,300
Leading staffing pattern
Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now35%
- End of 202747%
- End of 202852%
- End of 203053%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 40%
- Becomes checking a model's work 45%
- Handed over with lighter checks 12%
An online travel company whose filing states its total, its U.S. count and its full-time share, and nothing by kind of work, so the whole workforce takes the travel reservation pattern.
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: 35% now, 47% at the end of 2027, 52% at the end of 2028, 53% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 53% desk work, 37% people work and 10% 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 40% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 45% becomes checking a model's work and 12% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
24,300 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). About 2,900 of 24,300 employees based in the United States and about 21,400 outside it, as the filing states.
The filing: “Workforce As of December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 24,300 employees, of which approximately 2,900 were based in the United States and approximately 21,400 outside the United States.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services | 100% | By description (c): the filing describes online travel reservation services under five brands in over 220 countries, with no count by kind of work, so the whole workforce takes the travel arrangement and reservation pattern. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 24,300 employees as of December 31, 2025, in line with 2024; about 2,900 in the United States; about 97% full-time; independent contractors retained for certain functions; works councils and employee representatives in place.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (GBTG, 27,000 employees)33% now, 54% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
48 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI 48 times, mostly as the generative AI offerings and the AI-powered traveler experience it is building across its brands.
- “We offer these services through five primary consumer-facing brands: Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable: Accommodations Ground Transportation Flights Activities Restaurants Meta Search Booking.com ☑ ☑ ☑ ☑ Priceline ☑ ☑ ☑ ☑ Agoda ☑ ☑ ☑ ☑ KAYAK ☑ OpenTable ☑ We are proud of the meaningful progress we are making on our strategic initiatives as we continue to create more value for...”
- “Our Strategy We aim to: make it easy for people to plan, find, book, pay for, and experience travel; provide consumers with comprehensive choices and value, including expanding the range of travel-related products and services available on our platforms; create innovative and valuable Gen AI-powered consumer and partner offerings; offer platforms, tools, and insights to our partners to drive mu...”
- “We are executing against our long-term strategy to create an ideal AI-powered traveler experience, offering our customers relevant options and suggestions at the times and in the language they want them, making trips booked with us seamless, easy, and valuable.”
- “In the near term, we are focused on providing consumers the ability to build a complete travel itinerary from AI-powered inspiration and planning to in-trip suggestions for attraction options.”
- “We offer consumer-facing Gen AI capabilities across our brands, including trip planners, AI assistants to answer consumer queries, and a price comparison tool.”
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 20212median 0
- Fiscal 20225median 0
- Fiscal 202314median 1
- Fiscal 202429median 4
- Fiscal 202548median 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 | 24,300 | 2026-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 24,300 | 2025-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 23,600 | 2024-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 21,600 | 2023-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 20,300 | 2022-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 20,300 | 2021-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 26,400 | 2020-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 24,500 | 2019-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 22,900 | 2018-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 18,500 | 2017-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 15,500 | 2016-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 12,700 | 2015-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 9,500 | 2014-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 7,000 | 2013-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 5,000 | 2012-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 3,400 | 2011-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 2,010 | 2010-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 1,780 | 2009-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 1,324 | 2008-03-03 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 696 | 2007-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 532 | 2006-03-07 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 438 | 2005-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 293 | 2004-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 290 | 2003-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 360 | 2002-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 359 | 2001-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 373 | 2000-03-30 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- One pattern by description: the filing gives no count by kind of work.
- Independent contractors the filing says it retains are not in the headcount (rule 8).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001075531-26-000009, 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 Booking Holdings 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 Booking Holdings Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 35% now and 52% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Booking Holdings 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 Booking Holdings Inc. employ?
- 24,300 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 12% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Booking Holdings Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services; by those patterns the work is about 53% desk work, 37% people work and 10% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Booking Holdings Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 48 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 2, 5, 14, 29 and 48 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.