National Vision Holdings, Inc. (EYE)

Optical stores with labs, optometrists counted. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending January 3, 2026, filed March 4, 2026. Ranked 8 of the 161 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing states 13,138 associates including 635 employed optometrists, in 1,057 America's Best stores and other stores, labs and distribution centers, so the stores carry 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: 29% now, 34% at the end of 2027, 36% at the end of 2028, 36% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 36% desk work, 22% people work and 42% 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 63% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 28% 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

13,138 employees as of January 3, 2026 (stated). Not stated as a count; the 1,057 America's Best stores and the other stores, labs and distribution centers are in the United States.

The filing: “As of January 3, 2026, we had 13,138 full-time and part-time associates, including 635 directly employed optometrists.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: 13,138 full-time and part-time associates including 635 employed optometrists; 1,645 optometrists employed by contracted professional corporations and 87 subleasing in stores are outside the count (rule 8); a Doctor of Optometry tuition reimbursement program.

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)32% now, 44% by 2028
• Ulta Beauty, Inc. (ULTA, 66,820 employees)30% now, 35% by 2028
• Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI, 60,735 employees)29% now, 34% by 2028
• The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL, 55,000 employees)26% now, 35% by 2028
• Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (SBH, 27,000 employees)29% now, 37% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

6 sentences in the filing name AI. Six sentences: the filing names AI-enabled smart eyewear as an emerging category, and risk factors say the company must keep up with the use of artificial intelligence to automate processes and improve the customer experience.

• “The optical industry is experiencing increased consumer interest in smart eyewear, an emerging category that can integrate vision correction with features such as AI-enablement, hands- 7 Table of Contents free communication, and seamless integration with smartphones.”
• “Risks associated with our e-commerce and omni-channel business include: uncertainties associated with our websites, mobile applications and in-store systems, including changes in required technology interfaces, website downtime and other technical failures, costs and technical issues as we upgrade our website software, inadequate system capacity, computer viruses, human error, security breaches...”
• “In addition, we must keep up to date with competitive technology trends, including the use of artificial intelligence to automate business processes and improve the customer experience, the use of new or improved technology, creative user interfaces and other e-commerce marketing tools such as paid search and mobile applications, among others, which may increase our costs and which may not incr...”
• “Technological advances in vision care, including the development of artificial intelligence, remote medicine and other new or improved products, as well as future drug development for the correction of vision-related problems, could significantly change how eye exams may be conducted and make our existing products less attractive or even obsolete.”
• “Our CTO has served in this role at the Company since September 2025 and brings more than 30 years of industry experience in various senior roles involving managing global information technology and providing technology services in the areas of application development, infrastructure, data, and technology strategy, and specializing in Agentic AI, cloud solutions, enterprise software, and technol...”

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 20245median 4
• Fiscal 20256median 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.

Limits of this reading

• The 1,645 optometrists employed by professional corporations with which the company contracts are outside the headcount under rule 8.
• No count by place beyond the optometrists: the split between stores, labs and distribution is by description (c).
• The U.S. share is not stated as a count.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-014379, 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.