The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Cyclical
Lowe's (LOW)
Home improvement stores, full-time and part-time counted. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-01-30, filed 2026-03-23. Ranked 10 of the 39 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states full-time and part-time counts that sum to the total, and describes stores and a supply chain without a split, so the patterns follow 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: 22% now, 27% at the end of 2027, 28% at the end of 2028, 28% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 28% desk work, 22% people work and 51% 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 71% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 15% becomes checking a model's work and 13% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
276,000 employees as of 2026-01-30 (sum of stated parts). The filing says associates are primarily in the United States, without a count by country.
The filing: “As of January 30, 2026, Lowe's employed approximately 167,000 full-time associates and 109,000 part-time associates, primarily in the United States.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Building Material and Supplies Dealers | 92% | By (c): the filing states full-time and part-time counts but no split by store and supply chain, and describes a home improvement retailer serving customers in its stores, so the store share is read from the description. |
| Warehousing and Storage | 8% | By (c): the filing describes a supply chain network that delivers to stores and customers, including freight flow optimization, without a headcount, so a small share is read into the warehousing pattern by description. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 167,000 full-time and 109,000 part-time associates, primarily in the United States. The collector's first headcount reading took the full-time count alone; this reading sums the two stated parts.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Building Material and Supplies Dealers, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Home Depot (HD, 472,400 employees)22% now, 28% by 2028
- The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW, 64,249 employees)21% now, 31% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
14 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing describes productivity tools including freight flow optimization and advanced AI customer service tools, pilot programs integrating generative AI into internal and customer-facing operations, and the competitive risk of slower adoption; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “Location of stores and branches, product assortment, product pricing, fulfillment capabilities, and customer service continue to be key competitive factors in our industry, while the evolution of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies and customer expectations also underscore the importance of omnichannel capabilities as a competitive factor.”
- “We continue to develop and implement productivity tools, including freight flow optimization and advanced AI customer service tools, to enhance the efficiency of our sales associates and improve the customer experience.”
- “We will be at a competitive disadvantage if, over time, our competitors are more effective than us in their utilization and integration of rapidly evolving technologies, including AI and machine learning technologies.”
- “Additionally, the rapid evolution of AI and machine learning technologies and the implementation of pilot programs integrating generative AI into our internal and customer-facing systems may intensify our cybersecurity risks and create new risks to our business, operations, and financial condition.”
- “Our growing use of AI and machine learning may present additional risks, including risks associated with algorithm development or use, the tools and data sets used and/or a complex, developing regulatory environment.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-30 | 167,000 | 2026-03-23 | 10-K |
| 2025-01-31 | 161,000 | 2025-03-24 | 10-K |
| 2024-02-02 | 168,000 | 2024-03-25 | 10-K |
| 2023-02-03 | 182,000 | 2023-03-27 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-28 | 200,000 | 2022-03-21 | 10-K |
| 2021-01-29 | 220,000 | 2021-03-22 | 10-K |
| 2020-01-31 | 200,000 | 2020-03-23 | 10-K |
| 2019-02-01 | 190,000 | 2019-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2018-02-02 | 200,000 | 2018-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2017-02-03 | 190,000 | 2017-04-04 | 10-K |
| 2016-01-29 | 180,000 | 2016-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2015-01-30 | 175,000 | 2015-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2014-01-31 | 167,000 | 2014-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2013-02-01 | 160,000 | 2013-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2012-02-03 | 161,000 | 2012-04-02 | 10-K |
| 2011-01-28 | 161,000 | 2011-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2010-01-29 | 166,000 | 2010-03-30 | 10-K |
| 2009-01-30 | 164,000 | 2009-03-31 | 10-K |
| 2008-02-01 | 160,000 | 2008-04-01 | 10-K |
| 2007-02-02 | 157,000 | 2007-04-03 | 10-K |
| 2006-02-03 | 144,000 | 2006-04-07 | 10-K |
| 2005-01-28 | 125,000 | 2005-04-13 | 10-K |
| 2004-01-30 | 116,000 | 2004-04-08 | 10-K |
| 2003-01-31 | 123,000 | 2003-04-15 | 10-K |
| 2002-02-01 | 87,000 | 2002-04-26 | 10-K |
| 2001-02-02 | 77,000 | 2001-04-13 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-01-28 | 70,000 | 2000-04-26 | 10-K405 |
| 1999-01-29 | 54,000 | 1999-04-19 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-01-30 | not read | 1998-04-27 | 10-K |
| 1997-01-31 | not read | 1997-04-25 | 10-K |
| 1996-01-31 | not read | 1996-04-29 | 10-K |
| 1995-01-31 | not read | 1995-04-28 | 10-K |
| 1994-01-31 | not read | 1994-05-03 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No store-versus-supply-chain headcount is stated; both pattern shares follow the business description (c).
- The share in the U.S. is given in words, not as a number.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000060667-26-000029, 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 Lowe's's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 22% now and 28% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Lowe's'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 Lowe's employ?
- 276,000 as of January 30, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending January 30, 2026 states as the sum of the parts it gives.
- What kinds of work make up Lowe's's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Building Material and Supplies Dealers; by those patterns the work is about 28% desk work, 22% people work and 51% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Lowe's's annual report say about AI?
- 14 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.