Core & Main, Inc. (CNM)
Waterworks products distributor, branch-based. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending February 1, 2026, filed March 24, 2026. Ranked 12 of the 198 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
26%
End of 2028
39%
Employees, annual report
5,600
Leading staffing pattern
Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only)
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now26%
- End of 202736%
- End of 202839%
- End of 203040%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 59%
- Becomes checking a model's work 27%
- Handed over with lighter checks 12%
Core & Main’s approximately 5,600 associates distribute pipes, valves, fittings and water infrastructure products from local branches, read as one wholesale 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: 26% now, 36% at the end of 2027, 39% at the end of 2028, 40% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 40% desk work, 21% people work and 38% 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 59% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 27% 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
5,600 employees as of February 1, 2026 (stated). The filing counts no employees by country; the geography table is not usable.
The filing: “As of February 1, 2026, we employed approximately 5,600 associates, the majority of whom are assigned to local branches to support our customers and their project needs.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only) | 100% | By description (c): pipes, valves, fittings, storm drainage, meter and fire protection products distributed from local branches, plumbing and waterworks wholesaling; no count by kind of work. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 5,600 associates, the majority at local branches; about 116 covered by collective bargaining agreements; sales associates on performance-based pay.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 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.
- Ferguson plc (FERG, 35,000 employees)26% now, 39% by 2028
- Arrow Electronics, Inc. (ARW, 22,230 employees)27% now, 43% by 2028
- WESCO International, Inc. (WCC, 21,000 employees)26% now, 39% by 2028
- Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (RS, 15,700 employees)26% now, 39% by 2028
- Avnet, Inc. (AVT, 15,040 employees)26% now, 39% by 2028
- QXO, Inc. (QXO, 7,794 employees)26% now, 39% by 2028
- Boise Cascade Company (BCC, 7,680 employees)21% now, 31% by 2028
- Watsco, Inc. (WSO, 7,050 employees)26% now, 39% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
1 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI once: third parties’ generative AI tools and data protection.
- “Further, third parties we transact business with may incorporate generative artificial intelligence or other emerging technologies into their operations, and these tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards with respect to privacy and data protection.”
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 20251median 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-01 | 5,600 | 2026-03-24 | 10-K |
| 2025-02-02 | 5,700 | 2025-03-25 | 10-K |
| 2024-01-28 | 5,000 | 2024-03-19 | 10-K |
| 2023-01-29 | 4,500 | 2023-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-30 | 4,100 | 2022-03-30 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by kind of work; one wholesale pattern by description.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001856525-26-000031, 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 Core & Main, 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 Core & Main, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 26% now and 39% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Core & Main, 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 Core & Main, Inc. employ?
- 5,600 as of February 1, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending February 1, 2026 states.
- What kinds of work make up Core & Main, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only); by those patterns the work is about 40% desk work, 21% people work and 38% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Core & Main, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 1 sentence in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 1 and 1 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.