The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Defensive

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL)

Prestige beauty maker, counted at points of sale. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-06-30, filed 2026-08-19. Ranked 1 of the 16 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.

The filing counts 35,000 demonstrators at points of sale among 55,000 employees, so the retail pattern takes that share (a) and the rest follows its description (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: 26% now, 33% at the end of 2027, 35% at the end of 2028, 35% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 35% desk work, 19% people work and 46% 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 64% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 27% 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

55,000 employees as of 2026-06-30 (stated). The filing states approximately 26% of its global employees are located in the United States and 74% outside it.

The filing: “As of June 30, 2026 and 2025, we had approximately 55,000 and 57,000 employees worldwide, respectively, including approximately 35,000 demonstrators at points of sale who are employed by us as of June 30, 2026 and 2025.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 55,000 employees, down from 57,000, including about 35,000 demonstrators at points of sale; 69% full-time, 17% temporary, 14% part-time; 26% in the United States; about 81% female; no U.S. collective bargaining agreements; about 1,000 in research and development.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Health and Personal Care 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.

• CVS Health (CVS, 300,000 employees)31% now, 44% by 2028
• Ulta Beauty, Inc. (ULTA, 66,820 employees)29% now, 35% by 2028
• Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI, 60,735 employees)28% now, 34% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

16 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 16 sentences: AI used for personalization, speed to market and lower costs across marketing, AI generating selected marketing content, and large language models among the places beauty discovery happens.

• “As prestige beauty discovery increasingly occurs across social platforms, creator ecosystems, digital marketplaces and retailer platforms, search engines and emerging LLMs (large language models), we continue to invest in capabilities that improve the visibility, relevance and performance of our brands in these environments.”
• “We are leveraging artificial intelligence ("AI") to enhance personalization at scale, increase speed to market and reduce costs across the marketing value chain.”
• “As examples, we leverage AI and related technologies to help identify trends and insights, inform campaign development, test and optimize creative content, generate selected marketing content, improve targeting and search visibility, and optimize media planning and measurement.”
• “We recognize information technology presents opportunities for competitive advantage, and we continue to invest in new capabilities and the use of emerging technologies, including investments in AI, across various aspects of our business.”
• “Competition in the beauty business is based on a variety of factors including pricing of products, innovation, perceived value, service to the consumer, promotional activities, advertising, special events, new product introductions, and e-commerce initiatives, including the ability to effectively leverage existing and emerging digital technologies, such as AI and data analytics, to gain more co...”

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.

Limits of this reading

• The split of the employees outside the demonstrator count rests on description (c).
• Most of the workforce is abroad; the patterns apply abroad because the work is the same in kind (rule 7).

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001001250-26-000041, 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.