Kohl's Corporation (KSS)
Department stores, 84,000 associates on average. Read October 3, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending January 31, 2026, filed March 19, 2026. Ranked 30 of the 75 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
21%
End of 2028
25%
Employees, annual report
84,000
Leading staffing pattern
General Merchandise Retailers
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now21%
- End of 202724%
- End of 202825%
- End of 203025%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 75%
- Becomes checking a model's work 12%
- Handed over with lighter checks 12%
The filing states an average count by status and nothing by location, so stores and distribution take their shares by description (c), said so.
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: 21% now, 24% at the end of 2027, 25% at the end of 2028, 25% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 25% desk work, 19% people work and 56% 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 75% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 12% becomes checking a model's work and 12% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
84,000 employees as of January 31, 2026 (stated). Not stated; a U.S. department store chain with no count by country in the filing.
The filing: “During 2025, we employed an average of approximately 84,000 associates, which included approximately 29,000 full-time and 55,000 part-time associates.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| General Merchandise Retailers | 90% | Stores are the business; the filing names stores, distribution and e-commerce fulfillment centers, and corporate and credit locations without counts, so the store share is by description (c). |
| Warehousing and Storage | 10% | Distribution and e-commerce fulfillment centers named by the filing; no count, so by description (c). |
What the filing says about the workforce: An average of about 84,000 associates during 2025, 29,000 full-time and 55,000 part-time, peaking in the back-to-school and holiday seasons; none represented by a collective bargaining unit; eight business resource groups with more than 8,500 members.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also General Merchandise 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.
- Walmart (WMT, 2,100,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Target (TGT, 415,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Costco (COST, 341,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Dollar General (DG, 194,000 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Dollar Tree (DLTR, 153,032 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
- Macy's, Inc. (M, 90,134 employees)22% now, 25% by 2028
- BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (BJ, 35,000 employees)22% now, 25% by 2028
- Dillard's, Inc. (DDS, 29,100 employees)21% now, 25% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
10 sentences in the filing name AI. Ten sentences: generative AI and deepfakes among fraud and impersonation risks, privacy law compliance, and AI, generative AI and machine learning being incorporated into operations and customer experiences.
- “This risk is exacerbated by the rise of generative artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies, which can be used to create fictitious media content, spread misinformation, or impersonate company leadership.”
- “Maintaining our compliance with those requirements, including state-specific consumer privacy laws, may increase our compliance costs, require changes to our business practices, limit our ability to use and collect data, impact our customers' shopping experience, reduce our business efficiency, and subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, fines, data breach litigation, or reputational dama...”
- “We continue to incorporate artificial intelligence, including generative AI and machine learning technology, into our business operations and customer experiences.”
- “Challenges with properly managing the use of AI and machine learning technology could result in reputational harm, competitive disadvantage, and legal liability.”
- “The legal, regulatory, and ethical landscape around the use of AI is rapidly evolving, and our ability to timely adopt and adapt to this emerging technology in an effective and ethical manner may impact our reputation and competitiveness.”
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 20241median 4
- Fiscal 202510median 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-31 | 29,000 | 2026-03-19 | 10-K |
| 2025-02-01 | 33,000 | 2025-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2024-02-03 | 36,000 | 2024-03-21 | 10-K |
| 2023-01-28 | 36,000 | 2023-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-29 | 35,000 | 2022-03-17 | 10-K |
| 2021-01-30 | 36,000 | 2021-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2020-02-01 | 37,000 | 2020-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2019-02-02 | 34,000 | 2019-03-22 | 10-K |
| 2018-02-03 | 33,000 | 2018-03-23 | 10-K |
| 2017-01-28 | 32,000 | 2017-03-17 | 10-K |
| 2016-01-30 | 32,000 | 2016-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2015-01-31 | 32,000 | 2015-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2014-02-01 | 31,000 | 2014-03-21 | 10-K |
| 2013-02-02 | 30,000 | 2013-03-22 | 10-K |
| 2011-01-29 | 29,000 | 2011-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2011-01-28 | 30,000 | 2012-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2010-01-30 | 29,000 | 2010-03-19 | 10-K |
| 2009-01-31 | 28,000 | 2009-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2008-02-02 | 26,000 | 2008-03-21 | 10-K |
| 2007-02-03 | 23,000 | 2007-03-23 | 10-K |
| 2006-01-28 | 17,000 | 2006-03-17 | 10-K |
| 2005-01-29 | 20,000 | 2005-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2004-01-31 | 19,000 | 2004-03-19 | 10-K |
| 2003-02-01 | 75,000 | 2003-03-21 | 10-K |
| 2002-02-02 | 60,000 | 2002-04-15 | 10-K |
| 2001-02-03 | 54,000 | 2001-04-17 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-01-29 | 43,000 | 2000-04-17 | 10-K405 |
| 1999-01-30 | 33,800 | 1999-04-19 | 10-K |
| 1998-01-31 | 32,200 | 1998-04-23 | 10-K405 |
| 1997-02-01 | 25,500 | 1997-04-29 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- The headcount is an average for fiscal 2025, as the filing states it, not a count at the period end.
- No count by location: shares by description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001193125-26-115982, 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 Kohl's Corporation's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 21% now and 25% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Kohl's Corporation'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 Kohl's Corporation employ?
- 84,000 as of January 31, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending January 31, 2026 states.
- What kinds of work make up Kohl's Corporation's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest General Merchandise Retailers; by those patterns the work is about 25% desk work, 19% people work and 56% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Kohl's Corporation's annual report say about AI?
- 10 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 1, 1 and 10 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 3, 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.