The Workforce AI Index · Industrials
FedEx (FDX)
An express network with counts by business. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-05-31, filed 2026-07-20. Ranked 23 of the 28 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states a consolidated total by full-time and part-time status and employees for three of its businesses, so every pattern share is a stated count or the remainder of them, with the service providers' workers left out as the filing itself distinguishes them.
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: 16% now, 18% at the end of 2027, 19% at the end of 2028, 19% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 19% desk work, 8% people work and 73% 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 81% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 12% 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
530,000 employees as of 2026-05-31 (sum of stated parts). The filing states employees by business and by full-time and part-time status, not by country; Federal Express serves more than 220 countries and territories.
The filing: “As of May 31, 2026, FedEx employed approximately 300,000 permanent full-time and approximately 230,000 permanent part-time employees and utilized approximately 5,300 service providers to conduct certain linehaul and pickup-and-delivery operations.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Couriers and Express Delivery Services | 85% | By (a): the filing states that Federal Express employed approximately 452,000 of the 530,000 consolidated employees, 233,000 permanent full-time and 219,000 permanent part-time, in an integrated air-ground express network with 700 aircraft and over 180,000 motorized vehicles, which is the couriers and express delivery pattern. |
| Truck Transportation | 11% | By (a), by subtraction: the consolidated total of 530,000 less the stated counts for Federal Express, FedEx Office and FedEx Supply Chain leaves about 56,000 employees, which the filing's remaining business, FedEx Freight's less-than-truckload operation, accounts for, read into the truck transportation pattern. |
| Business Support Services | 2% | By (a): the filing states that FedEx Office operated approximately 2,000 customer-facing stores with approximately 12,000 employees, printing and shipping service centers that BLS counts in business support services. |
| Warehousing and Storage | 2% | By (a): the filing states nearly 10,000 employees at over 150 facilities in FedEx Supply Chain, which provides integrated logistics services, the warehousing pattern. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 300,000 permanent full-time and 230,000 permanent part-time employees in all; at Federal Express 233,000 full-time and 219,000 part-time; the pilots, a small number of the total, under a collective bargaining agreement ratified in June 2026. About 5,300 independent service providers conduct linehaul and pickup-and-delivery operations; their workers are not employees.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Couriers and Express Delivery Services, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- UPS (UPS, 460,000 employees)15% now, 17% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
34 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing describes machine learning in a network operating plan that forecasts volumes for dock modernization, a single platform of reusable, self-learning machine learning models, and an AI model of its own that improved estimated delivery dates on its website.
- “Our digital transformation is underpinned by our digital backbone and artificial intelligence ("AI") capabilities, enabling intelligent orchestration, standardization, and digitized and AI-enabled workflows that drive faster response, fewer exceptions, and lower our cost to serve.”
- “In addition, dock modernization efforts, including a network operating plan that uses machine learning and algorithms to develop more detailed and accurate volume forecasts, are enhancing productivity at these facilities in furtherance of our transformation initiatives.”
- “By adopting this single platform - where machine learning models are reusable and self-learning - we are able to solve problems and deliver value to stakeholders at speed, scale, and with the right economics.”
- “Additionally, an advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence model developed by FedEx has enhanced tracking capabilities on fedex.com, delivering greater estimated delivery date accuracy, including updates for early or delayed shipments.”
- “In January 2026, we announced FedEx Tracking+ and FedEx Returns+, AI-powered, white-labeled post-purchase solutions designed for enterprise customers and embedded directly within merchants' digital channels.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-31 | 233,000 | 2026-07-20 | 10-K |
| 2025-05-31 | 237,000 | 2025-07-21 | 10-K |
| 2024-05-31 | 241,000 | 2024-07-15 | 10-K |
| 2023-05-31 | 328,000 | 2023-07-17 | 10-K |
| 2022-05-31 | 345,000 | 2022-07-18 | 10-K |
| 2021-05-31 | 228,000 | 2021-07-19 | 10-K |
| 2020-05-31 | 183,000 | 2020-07-20 | 10-K |
| 2019-05-31 | 177,000 | 2019-07-16 | 10-K |
| 2018-05-31 | 166,000 | 2018-07-16 | 10-K |
| 2017-05-31 | 117,000 | 2017-07-17 | 10-K |
| 2016-05-31 | 115,000 | 2016-07-18 | 10-K |
| 2015-05-31 | 114,000 | 2015-07-14 | 10-K |
| 2014-05-31 | 112,000 | 2014-07-14 | 10-K |
| 2013-05-31 | 112,000 | 2013-07-15 | 10-K |
| 2012-05-31 | 101,000 | 2012-07-16 | 10-K |
| 2011-05-31 | 95,000 | 2011-07-12 | 10-K |
| 2010-05-31 | 93,000 | 2010-07-15 | 10-K |
| 2009-05-31 | 93,000 | 2009-07-15 | 10-K |
| 2008-05-31 | 94,700 | 2008-07-16 | 10-K |
| 2007-05-31 | 93,000 | 2007-07-13 | 10-K |
| 2006-05-31 | 87,400 | 2006-07-14 | 10-K |
| 2005-05-31 | 87,100 | 2005-07-14 | 10-K |
| 2004-05-31 | 84,500 | 2004-07-16 | 10-K |
| 2003-05-31 | 86,000 | 2003-07-17 | 10-K |
| 2002-05-31 | 87,400 | 2002-07-19 | 10-K |
| 2001-05-31 | 88,000 | 2001-07-24 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-05-31 | 96,000 | 2000-08-02 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- The FedEx Freight share is the remainder after the three stated business counts, read by subtraction from the stated consolidated total.
- The U.S. share is not stated.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001048911-26-000105, 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 FedEx's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 16% now and 19% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce FedEx'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 FedEx employ?
- 530,000 as of May 31, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending May 31, 2026 states as the sum of the parts it gives.
- What kinds of work make up FedEx's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 4 industry staffing patterns, the largest Couriers and Express Delivery Services; by those patterns the work is about 19% desk work, 8% people work and 73% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does FedEx's annual report say about AI?
- 34 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.