The Workforce AI Index · Basic Materials
Linde plc (LIN)
Industrial gases maker, split by segment revenue. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-25. Ranked 2 of the 5 Basic Materials companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states 65,177 employees worldwide and nothing by segment, so the patterns follow segment revenue, gases and engineering (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: 19% now, 33% at the end of 2027, 39% at the end of 2028, 41% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 41% desk work, 13% people work and 46% 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 57% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 36% becomes checking a model's work and 4% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
65,177 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing gives no count by country; the United States is 36% of revenue.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, Linde had 65,177 employees worldwide comprised of approximately 28 percent women and 72 percent men.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only) | 90% | By revenue (c): the Americas, EMEA and APAC gases segments at 92% of revenue, industrial gases production and distribution, the inorganic chemicals its SIC code names, with no count by segment. |
| Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | 10% | By revenue (c): the Engineering segment at 8% of revenue, plant design and construction the filing describes, with no stated count. |
What the filing says about the workforce: 65,177 employees worldwide, a decrease of 112 from 2024, which the filing attributes to cost reduction programs partly offset by acquisitions; about 28 percent women; collective bargaining agreements at numerous locations.
What the filing says about AI
2 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 2 sentences: an executive's prior role over communications, AI and procurement, and AI among the regulated areas it operates in.
- “Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Communications, AI, and Corporate Procurement beginning in 2024 and as Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis and Corporate Procurement from 2019 to 2024.”
- “Linde is subject to regulations in the following areas, among others: securities laws applicable in the United States, the European Union, and other jurisdictions; U.S. and non-U.S. tax laws and currency controls; trade and import/export restrictions, as well as economic sanctions laws; antitrust matters; safety; environmental protection, including climate change and energy efficiency laws and...”
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 | 65,177 | 2026-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 65,289 | 2025-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 66,323 | 2024-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 65,010 | 2023-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 72,327 | 2022-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 74,207 | 2021-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 79,886 | 2020-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 80,820 | 2019-03-18 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | not read | 2018-03-23 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The filing counts no people by segment or by country; the pattern shares rest on segment revenue and description (c).
- The U.S. share is not stated.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-011430, 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 Linde plc's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 19% now and 39% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Linde plc'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 Linde plc employ?
- 65,177 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Linde plc's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only); by those patterns the work is about 41% desk work, 13% people work and 46% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Linde plc's annual report say about AI?
- 2 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.