The Workforce AI Index · Industrials
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC)
Defense contractor, split by segment revenue. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-01-27. Ranked 19 of the 28 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states approximately 95,000 employees and nothing by segment, so the patterns follow segment revenue, aircraft, space and defense systems against mission electronics (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: 16% now, 36% at the end of 2027, 46% at the end of 2028, 50% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 50% desk work, 14% people work and 36% 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 47% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 44% 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
95,000 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing gives no count by country; its collective agreements and most of its contracts are in the U.S.
The filing: “Our differentiated culture and workforce was a factor in our ability to hire approximately 7,500 new employees in 2025, and as of December 31, 2025, we have approximately 95,000 employees.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | 72% | By revenue (c): Aeronautics Systems at 31%, Space Systems at 26% and Defense Systems at 19% of segment revenue, aircraft, spacecraft and weapon systems, with no count by segment. |
| Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | 28% | By revenue (c): Mission Systems at 30% of segment revenue, the radars, sensors and electronics the filing describes, kept as that segment's leading pattern, with no stated count. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 95,000 employees, about 7,500 hired in 2025; approximately 4,300 covered by 15 collective agreements in the U.S.; many roles require security clearances.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Aerospace Product and Parts 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.
- Boeing (BA, 182,000 employees)16% now, 43% by 2028
- RTX (RTX, 180,000 employees)16% now, 44% by 2028
- Lockheed Martin (LMT, 123,000 employees)16% now, 47% by 2028
- Honeywell International Inc. (HON, 101,000 employees)17% now, 45% by 2028
- GE Aerospace (GE, 57,000 employees)16% now, 45% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
9 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 9 sentences: AI among the digital technologies it needs to adopt in manufacturing and operations to compete, and AI techniques that heighten the risk of cyber attacks on its systems.
- “Our success in competing depends, in part, on our ability to remain price- and cost-competitive, respond to changes in customer acquisition strategies and preferences, accurately anticipate our customers' needs, successfully effect our digital transformation strategy and identify, adopt and integrate new digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, into our manufacturing, operations...”
- “Further, artificial intelligence techniques to automate and enhance cyber attacks pose an evolving and increased level of risk to our information systems.”
- “To meet evolving customer requirements, it is increasingly necessary to differentiate our offerings and to achieve efficiencies in our operations through digital based solutions, including artificial intelligence.”
- “Leveraging artificial intelligence in our business processes and -17- Table of Contents NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION operations can enhance our performance and enable our workforce to meet the needs of the customer.”
- “Our business may be adversely affected if we cannot continue to successfully integrate artificial intelligence into our business processes, products and services in a cost-effective, efficient, compliant and responsible manner.”
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 | 95,000 | 2026-01-27 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 97,000 | 2025-01-30 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 101,000 | 2024-01-25 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 95,000 | 2023-01-26 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 88,000 | 2022-01-27 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 97,000 | 2021-01-28 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 90,000 | 2020-01-30 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 85,000 | 2019-01-31 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 70,000 | 2018-01-29 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 67,000 | 2017-01-30 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 65,000 | 2016-02-01 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 64,300 | 2015-02-02 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 65,300 | 2014-02-03 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 68,100 | 2013-02-05 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 72,500 | 2012-02-08 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 117,100 | 2011-02-09 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 120,700 | 2010-02-09 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 123,600 | 2009-02-10 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 122,600 | 2008-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 122,200 | 2007-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 123,600 | 2006-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 125,400 | 2005-03-04 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 122,600 | 2004-03-10 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 117,300 | 2003-03-24 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 96,800 | 2002-03-22 | 10-K405 |
Limits of this reading
- The filing counts no people by segment; the pattern shares rest on segment revenue and description (c).
- The U.S. share is not stated.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001133421-26-000003, 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 Northrop Grumman Corporation's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 16% now and 46% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Northrop Grumman 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 Northrop Grumman Corporation employ?
- 95,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Northrop Grumman Corporation's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 50% desk work, 14% people work and 36% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Northrop Grumman Corporation's annual report say about AI?
- 9 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.