The Workforce AI Index · Healthcare
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)
Drug maker, one pattern. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-24. Ranked 25 of the 27 Healthcare companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states approximately 75,000 employees including 15,000 contractors, 30,000 in the U.S., and one pharmaceutical business, so one pattern carries the workforce (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: 17% now, 33% at the end of 2027, 40% at the end of 2028, 44% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 44% desk work, 14% people work and 43% 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 56% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 37% 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
75,000 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing counts approximately 30,000 people in the U.S. including Puerto Rico, of 75,000.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, the Company had approximately 75,000 employees worldwide, including approximately 30,000 people in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and approximately 15,000 third-party contractors globally.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing | 100% | By description (c): a research-based biopharmaceutical company with its animal health business, both pharmaceutical making, with approximately 24,700 people stated in research activities inside that one industry. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 75,000 employees including about 15,000 third-party contractors the filing counts as full-time equivalent employees; approximately 73,000 full-time; about 24,700 employed in research; approximately 21% under collective bargaining agreements; voluntary turnover about 4.8%; about 6,800 hired in 2025.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Pharmaceutical and Medicine 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.
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, 140,800 employees)18% now, 38% by 2028
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO, 125,000 employees)19% now, 48% by 2028
- Pfizer Inc. (PFE, 75,000 employees)17% now, 40% by 2028
- AbbVie Inc. (ABBV, 57,000 employees)17% now, 40% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
7 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 7 sentences, as risk: its increasing use of AI systems to automate processes, analyze data and support decision-making poses inherent risks.
- “The Company is increasing its use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to automate processes, analyze data, and support decision-making, which poses inherent risks.”
- “The Company is increasing its use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to automate processes, analyze data, and support decision-making, which poses inherent risks.”
- “The Company's growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to automate processes, analyze data, and support decision-making poses inherent risks.”
- “Ethical and legal challenges may arise, including biases or discrimination in AI outcomes, non-compliance with data protection regulations and emerging laws specifically governing AI systems and tools, such as the European Union AI Act and NIS2 Directive.”
- “Unauthorized use of open-source AI tools or generative AI platforms by employees or third parties could result in inadvertent disclosure of confidential information, intellectual property leakage, or regulatory violations.”
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 | 75,000 | 2026-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 75,000 | 2025-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 72,000 | 2024-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 69,000 | 2023-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 68,000 | 2022-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 74,000 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 71,000 | 2020-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 69,000 | 2019-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 69,000 | 2018-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 68,000 | 2017-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 68,000 | 2016-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 70,000 | 2015-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 76,000 | 2014-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 83,000 | 2013-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 86,000 | 2012-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 94,000 | 2011-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 100,000 | 2010-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 51,000 | 2009-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 55,000 | 2008-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 33,500 | 2007-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 32,600 | 2006-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 30,500 | 2005-03-09 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 30,500 | 2004-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 30,500 | 2003-03-10 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 29,800 | 2002-03-29 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 28,100 | 2001-03-13 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 26,500 | 2000-03-02 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-31 | 25,100 | 1999-02-25 | 10-K405 |
| 1997-12-31 | 22,700 | 1998-03-19 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-31 | 20,600 | 1997-03-03 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-31 | 20,100 | 1996-02-28 | 10-K |
| 1994-12-31 | 21,200 | 1995-03-03 | 10-K |
| 1993-12-31 | 21,600 | 1994-03-07 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The 75,000 includes approximately 15,000 third-party contractors, as the filing counts them (rule 8).
- The filing counts research employees but no segment; the single pattern rests on its description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000310158-26-000063, 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 Merck & Co., Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 17% now and 40% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Merck & Co., Inc.'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 Merck & Co., Inc. employ?
- 75,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 40% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Merck & Co., Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 44% desk work, 14% people work and 43% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Merck & Co., Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 7 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.