The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Defensive
The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
Beverage maker, mostly abroad. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-20. Ranked 13 of the 16 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states approximately 65,900 employees with 8,900 in the United States, in concentrate and finished beverage operations, so one beverage pattern carries the workforce (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: 14% now, 22% at the end of 2027, 24% at the end of 2028, 25% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 25% desk work, 17% people work and 58% 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 73% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 19% becomes checking a model's work and 7% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
65,900 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing counts approximately 8,900 of 65,900 employees in the United States.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, our Company had approximately 65,900 and 69,700 employees, respectively, of which approximately 8,900 were located in the United States.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Beverage Manufacturing | 100% | By description (c): concentrate operations at 59% and finished product operations at 41% of revenue are both beverage making and bottling, with no count by segment. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 65,900 employees, down from 69,700 mainly through 2025 divestitures; about 8,900 in the United States; about 400 employees in North America under collective bargaining agreements; the collector's first figure of 69,700 was the prior year's count.
What the filing says about AI
8 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 8 sentences, as capability and risk: AI and machine learning in marketing and data analytics, the need for employees with AI skills, and AI reshaping how consumers discover brands.
- “If we do not continuously strengthen our capabilities in marketing, data analytics (including artificial intelligence and machine learning) and innovation to understand and maintain consumer interest, brand loyalty and market share while strategically expanding into other profitable categories of the commercial beverage industry, our business could be negatively affected.”
- “We may not be able to successfully compete for, attract or retain the workforce that we want and may require for our future business needs, such as employees with advanced technology, artificial intelligence and digital marketing skills, and/or digital and analytics capabilities.”
- “The increasing use of data analytics, automation and artificial intelligence across digital platforms is further reshaping how consumers discover, evaluate and engage with brands.”
- “Therefore, one of our top priorities is to digitalize the Coca-Cola system by, among other things, creating more relevant and more personalized experiences wherever our system interacts with consumers, whether in a digital environment or through digital devices in an otherwise physical environment; finding ways to create more powerful digital tools and capabilities for the Coca-Cola system's re...”
- “Our Company is subject to various laws and regulations in the countries and territories throughout the world in which we do business, including laws and regulations relating to competition, distribution and pricing, product safety and quality, product design, advertising and labeling, container deposits, recycling, recycled content, extended producer responsibility, the protection of the enviro...”
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 | 65,900 | 2026-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 69,700 | 2025-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 79,100 | 2024-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 82,500 | 2023-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 79,000 | 2022-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 80,300 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 86,200 | 2020-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 62,600 | 2019-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 61,800 | 2018-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 100,300 | 2017-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 123,200 | 2016-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 129,200 | 2015-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 130,600 | 2014-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 150,900 | 2013-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 146,200 | 2012-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 139,600 | 2011-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 92,800 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 92,400 | 2009-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 90,500 | 2008-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 71,000 | 2007-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 55,000 | 2006-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 50,000 | 2005-03-04 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 49,000 | 2004-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 56,000 | 2003-03-26 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 38,000 | 2002-03-11 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 36,900 | 2001-03-07 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The filing counts people by U.S. and total, not by segment; the single pattern rests on its description (c).
- Most of the workforce is abroad; the pattern applies abroad because the work is the same in kind (rule 7).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-010047, 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 The Coca-Cola Company's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 14% now and 24% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce The Coca-Cola Company'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 The Coca-Cola Company employ?
- 65,900 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 14% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up The Coca-Cola Company's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Beverage Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 25% desk work, 17% people work and 58% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does The Coca-Cola Company's annual report say about AI?
- 8 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.