The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Defensive
Kroger (KR)
Supermarkets read from the store count. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-01-31, filed 2026-03-31. Ranked 9 of the 16 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
A grocer whose filing states one total and counts its supermarkets, so the store pattern comes from the count at typical staffing and the distribution and food plant shares from the description.
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: 19% now, 22% at the end of 2027, 23% at the end of 2028, 23% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 23% desk work, 19% 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 77% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 12% becomes checking a model's work and 11% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
403,000 employees as of 2026-01-31 (stated). The filing operates in 35 states and the District of Columbia and calls itself a leading employer in the United States, without a count by country.
The filing: “As of January 31, 2026, Kroger employed more than 403,000 full- and part-time employees.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only) | 90% | By (b): the filing counts 2,697 supermarkets (2,250 with pharmacies, 1,731 with fuel centers) and states no headcount by business; at a typical supermarket staffing of about 135 associates the stores carry about nine tenths of the 403,000, with in-store pharmacies and fuel centers inside the supermarket pattern. |
| Warehousing and Storage | 5% | By (c): the filing describes distribution centers that supply the stores without a count of facilities or employees, so a small share is read into the warehousing pattern by description. |
| Food Manufacturing | 5% | By (c): the filing states that about 20% of its Our Brands units are produced in its own food production plants, without a count of plants or employees, so a small share is read into the food manufacturing pattern by description. |
What the filing says about the workforce: More than 403,000 full- and part-time employees; about $183 million spent on training in 2025; the filing states that in 2025 it reduced its corporate administrative team by nearly 1,000 associates and closed some stores.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 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.
- Albertsons (ACI, 280,000 employees)20% now, 23% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
8 sentences in the filing name AI. AI appears in the risk factors, including the risk that customers 'delegate purchasing decisions to AI agents' that favor price or speed over the retailer, and in the modernizing of legacy systems; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “Our ability to refinance maturing debt may be affected by the state of the financial markets. ● Our ability to achieve sales, earnings and incremental First-In, First-Out ("FIFO") operating profit goals may be affected by: labor negotiations; potential work stoppages; changes in the unemployment rate; pressures in the labor market; changes in government-funded benefit programs; changes in the...”
- “If we are not successful in reducing or offsetting the cost of fulfilling orders outside of our in-store channel through efficiencies, expense reductions, or alternative revenues, our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected. The emergence of artificial intelligence-powered agentic shopping tools, in which AI agents autonomously research, compare an...”
- “If customers increasingly delegate purchasing decisions to AI agents that prioritize price, speed or other factors over retailer preference or brand loyalty, we could become disintermediated from the customer relationship.”
- “As we modernize legacy systems, if we are unable to successfully implement those systems in a coordinated manner across internal and external stakeholders, we could be subject to business interruption or reputation risk with our customers, suppliers or associates. Rapidly evolving technological and regulatory developments related to artificial intelligence ("AI") and related technologies may...”
- “While we are utilizing AI and machine learning capabilities across our business, our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products, services and operations more successfully, which could impair our ability to compete effectively, or adversely affect our results of operations or our ability to improve operational efficiency. To effectively compete, we may need to in...”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-31 | 403,000 | 2026-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2025-02-01 | 409,000 | 2025-04-01 | 10-K |
| 2024-02-03 | 414,000 | 2024-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2023-01-28 | 430,000 | 2023-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-29 | 420,000 | 2022-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2021-01-30 | 465,000 | 2021-03-30 | 10-K |
| 2020-02-01 | 435,000 | 2020-04-01 | 10-K |
| 2019-02-02 | 453,000 | 2019-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2018-02-03 | 449,000 | 2018-04-03 | 10-K |
| 2017-01-28 | 443,000 | 2017-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2016-01-30 | 431,000 | 2016-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2015-01-31 | 400,000 | 2015-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2014-02-01 | 375,000 | 2014-04-01 | 10-K |
| 2013-02-02 | 343,000 | 2013-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2012-01-28 | 339,000 | 2012-03-27 | 10-K |
| 2011-01-29 | 338,000 | 2011-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2010-01-30 | 334,000 | 2010-03-30 | 10-K |
| 2009-01-31 | 326,000 | 2009-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2008-02-02 | 323,000 | 2008-04-01 | 10-K |
| 2007-02-03 | 310,000 | 2007-04-04 | 10-K |
| 2006-01-28 | 290,000 | 2006-04-07 | 10-K |
| 2005-01-29 | 289,000 | 2005-04-15 | 10-K |
| 2004-01-31 | 290,000 | 2004-04-14 | 10-K |
| 2003-02-01 | 290,000 | 2003-05-02 | 10-K |
| 2002-02-02 | 288,000 | 2002-05-01 | 10-K |
| 2001-02-03 | 312,000 | 2001-05-02 | 10-K |
| 2000-01-29 | 305,000 | 2000-04-27 | 10-K |
| 1999-01-02 | 213,000 | 1999-03-26 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-27 | 212,000 | 1998-03-23 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-28 | 212,000 | 1997-03-19 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-30 | 205,000 | 1996-03-22 | 10-K |
| 1994-12-31 | 200,000 | 1995-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1994-01-01 | 190,000 | 1994-03-11 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No headcount by business is stated; the store share rests on the supermarket count (b) and the distribution and manufacturing shares on description (c).
- The share in the U.S. is not stated as a number.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001104659-26-037723, 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 Kroger's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 19% now and 23% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Kroger'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 Kroger employ?
- 403,000 as of January 31, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending January 31, 2026 states.
- What kinds of work make up Kroger's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 3 industry staffing patterns, the largest Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only); by those patterns the work is about 23% desk work, 19% 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 Kroger'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.