The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Defensive
Dollar Tree (DLTR)
Dollar stores with a stated associate table. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-01-31, filed 2026-03-16. Ranked 4 of the 16 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing's table states associates by full-time and part-time status and separates the store support center, so the retail and corporate patterns rest on stated counts and only the distribution part is 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: 21% now, 25% at the end of 2027, 25% at the end of 2028, 26% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 26% desk work, 19% people work and 55% 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 74% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 13% becomes checking a model's work and 13% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
153,032 employees as of 2026-01-31 (stated). The filing does not state a count by country.
The filing: “The number of associates we employed as of January 31, 2026 is as follows: Store and Distribution Center Associates 151,606 (full-time 33,755, part-time 117,851); Store Support Center Associates 1,426; Total 153,032.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| General Merchandise Retailers | 92% | By (a): the filing's table states 151,606 store and distribution center associates of 153,032, and the business is a chain of dollar stores, so the store part of that stated count goes to the general merchandise retail pattern, with the distribution part separated below by description. |
| Warehousing and Storage | 7% | By (c) within a stated count: distribution center associates are counted together with store associates in the filing's table, so the distribution part is read into the warehousing pattern by description. |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 1% | By (a): the filing states 1,426 store support center associates, a corporate count that rule 6 reads into the management-of-companies pattern. |
What the filing says about the workforce: 153,032 associates: 33,755 full-time and 117,851 part-time in stores and distribution centers, 1,426 full-time at the store support center. The Family Dollar business was sold on July 5, 2025 and is outside these counts.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also General Merchandise Retailers, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Walmart (WMT, 2,100,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Target (TGT, 415,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Costco (COST, 341,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Dollar General (DG, 194,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Macy's, Inc. (M, 90,134 employees)22% now, 25% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
11 sentences in the filing name AI. AI appears in the risk factors, as a technology whose evolution and use 'may further increase' cybersecurity risks and as part of competitors' online capabilities; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “These laws and regulations relate to, among other things, the operation of our facilities and the sale of products, including without limitation product and food safety, marketing, labeling or pricing; information security and privacy; artificial intelligence; labor and employment; employee wages and benefits; health and workplace safety (including Occupational Safety and Health Administration...”
- “While we have partnered with online personal shopping providers like Instacart and UberEats, some of our current and potential competitors have more significant online and mobile shopping platforms or other advances in technologies and capabilities (including artificial intelligence) than we currently do.”
- “The continued evolution and increased usage of artificial intelligence technologies may further increase these risks.”
- “We use, and may over time increase the usage of, artificial intelligence and machine learning in our business, and challenges with properly managing its use could adversely affect our business.”
- “We utilize artificial intelligence-enabled technologies in our business, and advancements in technology may allow us to expand the use or applications of artificial intelligence, including generative artificial intelligence, into key operational and/or administrative aspects of our business in the future.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-31 | 150,000 | 2026-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2025-02-01 | 64,434 | 2025-03-26 | 10-K |
| 2024-02-03 | 211,800 | 2024-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2023-01-28 | 207,500 | 2023-03-10 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-29 | 210,500 | 2022-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2021-01-30 | 199,300 | 2021-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2020-02-01 | 56,900 | 2020-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2019-02-02 | 57,200 | 2019-03-27 | 10-K |
| 2018-02-03 | 56,300 | 2018-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2017-01-28 | 55,300 | 2017-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2016-01-30 | 55,300 | 2016-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2015-01-31 | 18,100 | 2015-03-13 | 10-K |
| 2014-02-01 | 17,600 | 2014-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2013-02-02 | 15,380 | 2013-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2012-01-28 | 14,170 | 2012-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2011-01-29 | 13,060 | 2011-03-17 | 10-K |
| 2010-01-30 | 12,480 | 2010-03-19 | 10-K |
| 2009-01-31 | 12,560 | 2009-03-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-02-02 | 13,300 | 2008-04-01 | 10-K |
| 2007-02-03 | 12,700 | 2007-04-04 | 10-K |
| 2006-01-28 | 11,400 | 2006-04-12 | 10-K |
| 2005-01-29 | 11,040 | 2005-04-14 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 9,600 | 2004-04-13 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 8,600 | 2003-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 8,200 | 2002-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 6,700 | 2001-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 5,000 | 2000-03-17 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-31 | 16,000 | 1999-03-25 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 13,000 | 1998-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-31 | 11,000 | 1997-03-28 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- Store and distribution center associates are counted together; the split between them is by description (c).
- The share in the U.S. is not stated.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000935703-26-000025, 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 Dollar Tree's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 21% now and 25% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Dollar Tree'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 Dollar Tree employ?
- 153,032 as of January 31, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending January 31, 2026 states.
- What kinds of work make up Dollar Tree's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 3 industry staffing patterns, the largest General Merchandise Retailers; by those patterns the work is about 26% desk work, 19% people work and 55% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Dollar Tree's annual report say about AI?
- 11 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.