The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Cyclical

McDonald's Corporation (MCD)

Company-owned restaurants, franchises excluded. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-24. Ranked 39 of the 39 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.

A restaurant franchisor whose filing counts its own corporate and Company-operated restaurant employees, mostly outside the U.S., so one restaurant pattern applies and the franchisees' workers are excluded.

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: 10% now, 13% at the end of 2027, 13% at the end of 2028, 13% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 13% desk work, 22% people work and 65% 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 87% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 9% 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

150,000 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). Approximately 70% of Company employees are based outside the U.S., so about 30% are in it.

The filing: “Company employees, which include those in the Company's corporate and other offices as well as in Company-owned and operated restaurants, totaled over 150,000 worldwide as of year-end 2025, of which approximately 70% were based outside of the U.S.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: The over two million people who work in franchised restaurants are employed by franchisees and are not Company employees (rule 8); the Company's Global People Brand Standards apply to all restaurants.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Restaurants and Other Eating Places, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

• Starbucks (SBUX, 381,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC, 290,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Darden (DRI, 209,931 employees)10% now, 13% by 2028
• Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG, 130,301 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH, 101,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Brinker International, Inc. (EAT, 85,003 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL, 74,500 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (BLMN, 64,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

6 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI among its risk factors: AI-driven tools that may increase intellectual property risks, and AI-enabled cyberattacks and deepfakes; it describes no use of its own in the workforce section.

• “Moreover, rapid technological developments, including artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools, may increase our exposure to existing intellectual property risks, including theft or unlicensed use, intellectual property disputes and enforcement challenges.”
• “Additionally, cybersecurity threats continue to become more sophisticated, including AI-enabled attacks and deepfake technology.”
• “Incidents may include unauthorized access, phishing attacks, account takeovers, denial of service, computer viruses, deepfakes and other malicious uses of artificial intelligence, introduction of malware or ransomware, other disruptive problems caused by hackers or unintentional events.”
• “In addition, the AI tools we are incorporating into certain aspects of our business may not generate the intended efficiencies, may increase our exposure to risks (both known and unknown), and could adversely impact our business results.”
• “Further, emerging global and U.S. regulations governing AI use - including requirements for responsible use, transparency, bias mitigation, accountability, and explainability - may impose significant compliance obligations and increase reputational risk.”

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.

Limits of this reading

• Only the over 150,000 Company employees are counted; the franchised restaurants' workers, over two million, are excluded (rule 8).
• One pattern by description (c): no split between corporate offices and Company-operated restaurants is stated.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000063908-26-000035, 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.