McKesson Corporation (MCK)
Pharmaceutical distribution, 43,000 employees, 88% U.S.. Read October 2, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending March 31, 2026, filed May 8, 2026. Ranked 18 of the 36 Healthcare companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
23%
End of 2028
36%
Employees, annual report
43,000
Leading staffing pattern
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now23%
- End of 202733%
- End of 202836%
- End of 203037%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 62%
- Becomes checking a model's work 24%
- Handed over with lighter checks 12%
The filing states the total, the part-time count and the counts by country, nothing by segment, so the whole workforce takes the wholesale pattern by description (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: 23% now, 33% at the end of 2027, 36% at the end of 2028, 37% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 37% desk work, 19% people work and 44% 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 62% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 24% 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
43,000 employees as of March 31, 2026 (stated). About 38,000 of 43,000 in the U.S., 5,000 in Canada and 400 in the rest of the world.
The filing: “As of March 31, 2026, we had more than 43,000 employees worldwide, which includes 1,400 part-time employees.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | 100% | Pharmaceutical distribution (North American Pharmaceutical 83% of revenue, Medical-Surgical 3%) with the oncology and multispecialty practices (12%) and prescription technology (1%) inside it; the filing states no count by segment, so one wholesale pattern by description (c). |
What the filing says about the workforce: More than 43,000 employees, 1,400 of them part-time; about 38,000 in the U.S., 5,000 in Canada and 400 elsewhere; contractors and consultants supplement the workforce for certain projects.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Cencora, Inc. (COR, 51,000 employees)23% now, 36% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
29 sentences in the filing name AI. Twenty-nine sentences: investment in data and analytics including AI, early-stage exploration of AI capabilities across the enterprise to improve productivity and enhance products and services, and AI among the laws it is subject to.
- “Additionally, we invest in data and analytics to support our growth priorities, including artificial intelligence ("AI").”
- “We are in the early stages of exploring potential AI capabilities and related data and analytics across our enterprise to improve productivity and efficiency, as well as enhance our products and services to better support patients, employees, and customers.”
- “Cybersecurity, Data Security, Privacy, and AI: We are subject to many cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection laws that change frequently and have requirements that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.”
- “Additionally, AI laws and guidance are rapidly expanding and changing, with potential differences or conflicts across jurisdictions.”
- “This creates uncertainty and regulatory risk, including for healthcare-related uses of AI.”
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 20238median 1
- Fiscal 202419median 4
- Fiscal 202529median 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-31 | 43,000 | 2026-05-08 | 10-K |
| 2025-03-31 | 45,000 | 2025-05-09 | 10-K |
| 2024-03-31 | 51,000 | 2024-05-08 | 10-K |
| 2023-03-31 | 51,000 | 2023-05-09 | 10-K |
| 2022-03-31 | 75,000 | 2022-05-09 | 10-K |
| 2021-03-31 | 76,000 | 2021-05-12 | 10-K |
| 2020-03-31 | 80,000 | 2020-05-22 | 10-K |
| 2019-03-31 | 80,000 | 2019-05-15 | 10-K |
| 2018-03-31 | 78,000 | 2018-05-24 | 10-K |
| 2017-03-31 | 78,000 | 2017-05-22 | 10-K |
| 2016-03-31 | 68,000 | 2016-05-05 | 10-K |
| 2015-03-31 | 70,400 | 2015-05-12 | 10-K |
| 2014-03-31 | 42,800 | 2014-05-14 | 10-K |
| 2013-03-31 | 43,500 | 2013-05-07 | 10-K |
| 2012-03-31 | 37,700 | 2012-05-02 | 10-K |
| 2011-03-31 | 36,400 | 2011-05-05 | 10-K |
| 2010-03-31 | 32,500 | 2010-05-04 | 10-K |
| 2009-03-31 | 32,500 | 2009-05-05 | 10-K |
| 2008-03-31 | 32,900 | 2008-05-07 | 10-K |
| 2007-03-31 | 31,800 | 2007-05-09 | 10-K |
| 2006-03-31 | 26,400 | 2006-05-16 | 10-K |
| 2005-03-31 | 25,200 | 2005-05-13 | 10-K |
| 2004-03-31 | 24,600 | 2004-06-10 | 10-K |
| 2003-03-31 | 24,500 | 2003-06-06 | 10-K |
| 2002-03-31 | 24,000 | 2002-06-12 | 10-K |
| 2001-03-31 | 23,000 | 2001-06-01 | 10-K |
| 2000-03-31 | 21,100 | 2000-06-13 | 10-K |
| 1999-03-31 | 24,600 | 1999-07-14 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-03-31 | 13,700 | 1998-06-18 | 10-K405 |
| 1997-03-31 | 13,300 | 1997-06-19 | 10-K |
| 1996-03-31 | 11,300 | 1996-06-19 | 10-K |
| 1995-03-31 | 12,200 | 1995-06-12 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- The site has no pattern for drug wholesalers alone, so the nondurable goods wholesale subsector is used (rule 3); the oncology practices (12% of revenue) sit inside it.
- More than 43,000 employees; the total is the filing's stated figure.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000927653-26-000069, 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 McKesson Corporation's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 23% now and 36% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce McKesson 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 McKesson Corporation employ?
- 43,000 as of March 31, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending March 31, 2026 states. About 88% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up McKesson Corporation's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods; by those patterns the work is about 37% desk work, 19% people work and 44% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does McKesson Corporation's annual report say about AI?
- 29 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 8, 19 and 29 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 2, 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.