The Workforce AI Index · Technology
Microsoft (MSFT)
A software publisher with stated functional headcounts. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-06-30, filed 2026-07-29. Ranked 10 of the 24 Technology companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states headcount by function and by U.S. and international, so the software pattern is a stated count and only the operations split rests on 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: 24% now, 55% at the end of 2027, 69% at the end of 2028, 75% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 75% desk work, 22% people work and 3% 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 26% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 58% becomes checking a model's work and 10% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
223,000 employees as of 2026-06-30 (stated). 121,000 of 223,000 employees are in the U.S. and 102,000 international.
The filing: “As of June 30, 2026, we employed approximately 223,000 people on a full-time basis, 121,000 in the U.S. and 102,000 internationally.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Software Publishers | 60% | By (a): the filing states 77,000 in product research and development, 43,000 in sales and marketing and 14,000 in general and administration, 134,000 of 223,000 or 60%, which is the staff of a software publisher as BLS counts it. |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 25% | By (a) and (c): the filing states 89,000 in operations 'including product support and consulting services, datacenter operations, and manufacturing and distribution', 40% of the total, without a split; the support and consulting part is read into the computer systems design pattern by description. |
| Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | 15% | By (c): the datacenter operations part of the 89,000 in operations has no stated count, so it is read into the computing infrastructure pattern by description, with manufacturing and distribution folded in for lack of a count. |
What the filing says about the workforce: All employees are counted on a full-time basis. By function: operations 89,000; product research and development 77,000; sales and marketing 43,000; general and administration 14,000. Certain employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Software Publishers, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Oracle (ORCL, 141,000 employees)24% now, 68% by 2028
- Salesforce, Inc. (CRM, 83,334 employees)23% now, 69% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
126 sentences in the filing name AI. AI runs through the filing as product and infrastructure strategy (AI services and platforms, datacenter capacity for 'the growing demand for AI services', research and development in AI); the human capital section describes compensation, wellbeing and learning programs without naming AI.
- “B USINESS GENERAL Microsoft is a technology company committed to making digital technology and artificial intelligence ("AI") available broadly and doing so responsibly.”
- “We develop and support a broad portfolio of technology solutions for individuals and businesses, focusing on secure, trusted, and innovative platforms and applications that meet evolving customer needs across AI, cloud computing, productivity and collaboration, and personal computing.”
- “AI is fundamentally transforming productivity for every individual, organization, and industry.”
- “Microsoft's AI offerings span every layer of the technology stack, enabling transformative outcomes across sectors and unlocking opportunity for every country, community, and individual.”
- “We believe AI should be as empowering as it is powerful, and we're committed to designing and deploying AI responsibly with safety and security from the outset.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | 223,000 | 2026-07-29 | 10-K |
| 2025-06-30 | 228,000 | 2025-07-30 | 10-K |
| 2024-06-30 | 228,000 | 2024-07-30 | 10-K |
| 2023-06-30 | 221,000 | 2023-07-27 | 10-K |
| 2022-06-30 | 221,000 | 2022-07-28 | 10-K |
| 2021-06-30 | 181,000 | 2021-07-29 | 10-K |
| 2020-06-30 | 163,000 | 2020-07-30 | 10-K |
| 2019-06-30 | 144,000 | 2019-08-01 | 10-K |
| 2018-06-30 | 131,000 | 2018-08-03 | 10-K |
| 2017-06-30 | 124,000 | 2017-08-02 | 10-K |
| 2016-06-30 | 114,000 | 2016-07-28 | 10-K |
| 2015-06-30 | 118,000 | 2015-07-31 | 10-K |
| 2014-06-30 | 128,000 | 2014-07-31 | 10-K |
| 2013-06-30 | 99,000 | 2013-07-30 | 10-K |
| 2012-06-30 | 94,000 | 2012-07-26 | 10-K |
| 2011-06-30 | 90,000 | 2011-07-28 | 10-K |
| 2010-06-30 | 89,000 | 2010-07-30 | 10-K |
| 2009-06-30 | 93,000 | 2009-07-30 | 10-K |
| 2008-06-30 | 91,000 | 2008-07-31 | 10-K |
| 2007-06-30 | 79,000 | 2007-08-03 | 10-K |
| 2006-06-30 | 71,000 | 2006-08-25 | 10-K |
| 2005-06-30 | 61,000 | 2005-08-26 | 10-K |
| 2004-06-30 | 57,000 | 2004-09-01 | 10-K |
| 2003-06-30 | 55,000 | 2003-09-05 | 10-K |
| 2002-06-30 | 50,500 | 2002-09-06 | 10-K |
| 2001-06-30 | 47,600 | 2001-09-18 | 10-K |
| 2000-06-30 | 39,100 | 2000-09-28 | 10-K |
| 1999-06-30 | 31,396 | 1999-09-28 | 10-K |
| 1998-06-30 | 27,055 | 1998-09-25 | 10-K |
| 1997-06-30 | 22,232 | 1997-09-29 | 10-K |
| 1996-06-30 | 20,561 | 1996-09-27 | 10-K |
| 1995-06-30 | 17,801 | 1995-09-25 | 10-K |
| 1994-06-30 | 15,257 | 1994-09-27 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The 89,000 in operations are split between support and consulting and datacenter operations by description, not by a stated count.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001193125-26-323660, 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 Microsoft's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 24% now and 69% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Microsoft'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 Microsoft employ?
- 223,000 as of June 30, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending June 30, 2026 states. About 54% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Microsoft's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 3 industry staffing patterns, the largest Software Publishers; by those patterns the work is about 75% desk work, 22% people work and 3% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Microsoft's annual report say about AI?
- 126 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.