McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC-V)

Spice and flavor plants, one pattern. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending November 30, 2025, filed January 22, 2026. Ranked 44 of the 62 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing states 14,100 full-time employees making spices, seasonings and flavors in two segments that are both food manufacturing, so one pattern carries the whole workforce.

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: 15% now, 21% at the end of 2027, 23% at the end of 2028, 24% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 24% desk work, 9% people work and 67% 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), 19% becomes checking a model's work and 5% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.

Headcount

14,100 employees as of November 30, 2025 (stated). Not stated; about 39% of sales are from non-U.S. operations, and the union counts are given by region (400 U.S., 2,450 abroad).

The filing: “As of November 30, 2025, we had approximately 14,100 full-time employees worldwide.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: 14,100 full-time; about 400 U.S. employees under a collective bargaining contract and about 2,450 at subsidiaries abroad under agreements or similar arrangements (20% together); a Global Business Services operating model initiative and a global ERP implementation under way.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

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

• PepsiCo (PEP, 306,000 employees)17% now, 26% by 2028
• The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM)15% now, 23% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

8 sentences in the filing name AI. Eight sentences, risk factors: competitors may use data analytics and artificial intelligence better in advertising, AI and machine learning may become critical to reading consumer preferences, and cybercriminals integrate generative AI.

• “Certain competitors may also be more successful at utilizing data analytics, artificial intelligence, and other new and emerging technologies and digital experiences as part of their advertising practices.”
• “We must also be able to respond successfully to technological advances (including artificial intelligence and machine learning, which may become critical in interpreting consumer preferences in the future), and failure to do so could compromise our competitive position and negatively impact our product sales.”
• “Cybercriminals have increasingly demonstrated advanced capabilities, such as use of zero-day vulnerabilities, and rapid integration of new technology such as generative artificial intelligence.”
• “However, cyber-threats are constantly evolving, are becoming more sophisticated including through the increased adoption of artificial intelligence and are being made by groups of individuals with a wide range of expertise and motives, which increases the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them.”
• “Moreover, the development and maintenance of these measures require continuous monitoring as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures evolve and leverage artificial intelligence.”

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 20232median 1
• Fiscal 20244median 4
• Fiscal 20258median 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.

Limits of this reading

• No count by segment: one pattern by description (c).
• The U.S. share is not stated.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000063754-26-000037, 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.