Cushman & Wakefield plc (CWK)
Real estate services, 53,000 people, 45% reimbursed. Read October 2, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 19, 2026. Ranked 3 of the 3 Real Estate companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
17%
End of 2028
29%
Employees, annual report
53,000
Leading staffing pattern
Real Estate
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now17%
- End of 202726%
- End of 202829%
- End of 203029%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 71%
- Becomes checking a model's work 20%
- Handed over with lighter checks 8%
The filing states the regions, the union share and that costs for 45% of employees are reimbursed by clients; that share is read as facilities services and the rest as real estate services by 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: 17% now, 26% at the end of 2027, 29% at the end of 2028, 29% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 29% desk work, 17% people work and 54% 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 71% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 20% becomes checking a model's work and 8% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
53,000 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). Americas 67%, EMEA 10%, APAC 23%; no U.S. figure.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 53,000 employees worldwide - approximately 67% in the Americas, 10% in EMEA and 23% in APAC.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Services to Buildings and Dwellings | 45% | The filing states that costs for approximately 45% of employees are fully reimbursed by clients and that the 7,000 covered by collective bargaining are mostly in facilities services, naming maintenance, landscaping and janitorial personnel; the reimbursed 45% is read as the facilities services workforce (a), said so. |
| Real Estate | 55% | Advisors and sales staff in Leasing, Capital markets and Valuation, with administrative and office staff, are the remainder by description (c); the filing states over 350 offices in nearly 60 countries. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 67% in the Americas, 10% in EMEA and 23% in APAC; about 7,000 (13%) covered by collective bargaining agreements, mostly in facilities services; costs for about 45% of employees fully reimbursed by clients; many Americas Leasing and Capital markets professionals work on commission; over 350 offices in nearly 60 countries, managing about 6.5 billion square feet.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Real Estate, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL, 113,200 employees)19% now, 33% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
27 sentences in the filing name AI. Twenty-seven sentences: AI and automation driving investment across industries and demand for data centers, the company's own use of AI-powered information and automation to support its advisors and research professionals, and risk language.
- “Across industries, artificial intelligence ("AI") and automation have begun to drive new investments and innovation.”
- “This growth has impacted demand for certain types of commercial real estate, especially data centers, as AI's physical footprint and its need for power, cooling and connectivity is driving additional demand for these spaces.”
- “We invest in and leverage technology to empower our advisors, services and research professionals to support client outcomes with data-driven insights, AI-powered information and automation.”
- “We continue to make significant investments in new systems and tools to achieve competitive advantages and efficiencies, including increasingly focusing on the adoption and integration of Artificial Intelligence ("AI"), such as generative AI and advanced analytics, into our core service lines.”
- “If we do not effectively upskill or reskill our workforce with the necessary future capabilities, particularly regarding the AI-driven workflows mentioned above, it could further reduce our competitiveness and efficiency.”
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 20235median 1
- Fiscal 20246median 4
- Fiscal 202527median 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 | 53,000 | 2026-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 52,000 | 2025-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 52,000 | 2024-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 52,000 | 2023-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 50,000 | 2022-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 50,000 | 2021-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 53,000 | 2020-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 51,000 | 2019-02-28 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The facilities services share is read from the 45% of employees whose costs clients reimburse, with the union sentence as support; the filing states no employee count by service line.
- No U.S. figure: 67% in the Americas.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628369-26-000008, 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.
Questions about this company
- How much of Cushman & Wakefield plc's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 17% now and 29% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Cushman & Wakefield plc'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 Cushman & Wakefield plc employ?
- 53,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Cushman & Wakefield plc's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Real Estate; by those patterns the work is about 29% desk work, 17% people work and 54% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Cushman & Wakefield plc's annual report say about AI?
- 27 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 5, 6 and 27 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 2, 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.