The Workforce AI Index · Healthcare
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX)
Clinical laboratories, one pattern. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-26. Ranked 11 of the 27 Healthcare companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states nearly 57,000 employees, 46,000 full-time, in one diagnostic laboratory business, so one pattern carries the workforce (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: 27% now, 35% at the end of 2027, 39% at the end of 2028, 41% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 41% desk work, 18% people work and 41% 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 58% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 33% becomes checking a model's work and 6% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
57,000 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing counts about 6,800 employees at LifeLabs in Canada and gives no U.S. count.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, we have nearly 57,000 employees globally (including LifeLabs' approximately 6,800), of whom approximately 46,000 are full-time and the remainder are part-time or on-call.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories | 100% | By description (c): clinical laboratories and patient service centers in the U.S. and Canada, the industry its SIC code names, with a majority of employees stated to work with customers or in laboratories and no count by kind of work. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Nearly 57,000 employees including about 6,800 at LifeLabs; about 46,000 full-time and the rest part-time or on-call; about 70% women; fewer than 1% of U.S. employees union-represented.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Labcorp Holdings Inc. (LH, 71,000 employees)24% now, 42% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
36 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 36 sentences: automation and AI used to improve quality and productivity across its value chain, and AI expanded in digital cytology, microbiology, parasitology and digital pathology in 2025.
- “We drive growth by: offering an industry-leading menu of testing and other services; collaborating with healthcare providers and partners to leverage our broad access; leveraging our data assets and services to improve population health and enable value-based care; and continuously improving our quality and efficiency by leveraging the Quest Management System and by embracing innovative technol...”
- “We are leveraging automation and AI to improve quality and productivity across our entire value chain, not just in the labo ratory.”
- “In 2025, we initiated or expanded our use of AI and automation in several areas, ranging from digital cytology, microbiology, parasitology and digital pathology.”
- “We endeavor to improve test processes, including through increased automation and AI.”
- “We use AI to help drive innovation and operational efficiency through improving the quality of our screening and diagnostic capabilities.”
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 | 57,000 | 2026-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 56,000 | 2025-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 40,000 | 2024-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 40,000 | 2023-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 40,000 | 2022-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 40,000 | 2021-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 47,000 | 2020-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 46,000 | 2019-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 45,000 | 2018-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 43,000 | 2017-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 44,000 | 2016-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 45,000 | 2015-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 41,000 | 2014-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 41,000 | 2013-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 42,000 | 2012-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 42,000 | 2011-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 43,000 | 2010-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 42,800 | 2009-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 43,500 | 2008-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 41,000 | 2007-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 41,500 | 2006-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 38,600 | 2005-03-10 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 37,200 | 2004-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 4,100 | 2003-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 3,000 | 2002-03-04 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-12-31 | 27,000 | 2001-04-02 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 27,000 | 2000-03-30 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-12-31 | 15,000 | 1999-03-31 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 18,300 | 1998-03-20 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-31 | 17,800 | 1997-03-19 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The filing counts people by status, not by kind of work; the single pattern rests on its description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001022079-26-000015, 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 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 27% now and 39% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Quest Diagnostics Incorporated'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 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated employ?
- 57,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories; by those patterns the work is about 41% desk work, 18% people work and 41% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's annual report say about AI?
- 36 sentences in the filing name AI. 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 1, 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.