Element Solutions Inc (ESI)
Specialty chemicals for electronics, 80% abroad. Read October 20, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 18, 2026. Ranked 14 of the 62 Basic Materials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
20%
End of 2028
37%
Employees, annual report
5,200
Leading staffing pattern
Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only)
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now20%
- End of 202732%
- End of 202837%
- End of 203039%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 61%
- Becomes checking a model's work 33%
- Handed over with lighter checks 4%
The filing states 5,200 full-time employees, 80% outside the U.S., in specialty chemicals with nothing by segment, so one chemical pattern carries the workforce.
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: 20% now, 32% at the end of 2027, 37% at the end of 2028, 39% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 39% desk work, 13% people work and 49% 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 61% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 33% becomes checking a model's work and 4% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
5,200 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). The filing states that approximately 80% of full-time employees are employed outside the U.S.
The filing: “At December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 5,200 full-time employees, of which approximately 40% are research and development chemists and experienced technical service and technical sales personnel.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only) | 100% | By description (c): a specialty chemicals maker of plating, assembly and surface finishing chemistries, which NAICS places with other chemical products; the 40% technical share is a function, not a segment, and the data service's one-line table is not usable. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 5,200 full-time employees, about 40% research and development chemists and technical service and sales personnel; about 80% outside the U.S.; in some countries employees are union members or represented by works councils.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 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.
- Linde plc (LIN, 65,177 employees)20% now, 39% by 2028
- Ecolab Inc. (ECL, 48,000 employees)19% now, 34% by 2028
- Dow Inc. (DOW, 34,600 employees)20% now, 37% by 2028
- Corteva, Inc. (CTVA, 21,500 employees)15% now, 25% by 2028
- Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD, 21,300 employees)20% now, 37% by 2028
- LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB, 18,970 employees)20% now, 37% by 2028
- DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (DD, 15,000 employees)19% now, 35% by 2028
- Eastman Chemical Company (EMN, 13,000 employees)20% now, 37% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
3 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing says AI and data center investment drove demand for its metallization solutions and advanced packaging products, and names AI tools in its operations among data risks.
- “We believe our growth in this business will be driven by advanced electronics packaging, necessary to meet the growing needs of high performance computing, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, next-generation wireless communications and the increasing content and complexity of electronics in automotive applications. 2 Products A selection of Electronics' product offerings is present...”
- “Additionally, as we increase the use of artificial intelligence ("AI") tools in our operations, the risk of unauthorized access to, improper release of, and fabrication by AI of incorrect or incomplete information relating to, our sensitive data, may increase.”
- “The increase in organic net sales was primarily due to continued AI and data center investment driving demand for metallization solutions.”
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 20231median 1
- Fiscal 20243median 4
- Fiscal 20253median 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 | 5,200 | 2026-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 5,300 | 2025-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 5,300 | 2024-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 5,300 | 2023-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 5,300 | 2022-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 4,400 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 4,400 | 2020-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 4,450 | 2019-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 7,850 | 2018-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 7,750 | 2017-03-13 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 8,200 | 2016-03-11 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 2,500 | 2015-03-30 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 2,000 | 2014-03-31 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The filing counts full-time employees and states no other count.
- The 40% in research, technical service and technical sales is recorded as a function share inside the chemical pattern.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001590714-26-000018, 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 Element Solutions 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 Element Solutions Inc's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 20% now and 37% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Element Solutions 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 Element Solutions Inc employ?
- 5,200 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 20% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Element Solutions Inc's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only); by those patterns the work is about 39% desk work, 13% people work and 49% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Element Solutions Inc's annual report say about AI?
- 3 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 1, 3 and 3 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 20, 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.