Republic Services, Inc. (RSG)
Waste collection and disposal, 42,000 full-time employees. Read October 2, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 18, 2026. Ranked 41 of the 47 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
16%
End of 2028
22%
Employees, annual report
42,000
Leading staffing pattern
Waste Collection
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now16%
- End of 202720%
- End of 202822%
- End of 203022%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 77%
- Becomes checking a model's work 15%
- Handed over with lighter checks 7%
The filing states one full-time total and nothing by service line or country, so the collection, disposal and environmental shares are by description (c), said so.
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, 20% at the end of 2027, 22% at the end of 2028, 22% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 22% desk work, 10% people work and 68% 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 77% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 15% becomes checking a model's work and 7% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
42,000 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). The filing states no count by country.
The filing: “Our approximately 42,000 full-time employees are a critical component in successfully executing our strategy and running our operations.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Waste Collection | 70% | Collection is the largest service line (about 45% of revenue, with small-container, large-container and residential collection making it up); the filing states no count by service line, so the share is by description (c) with revenue as the guide. |
| Waste Treatment and Disposal | 23% | Landfills, transfer stations and recycling facilities take the collected material; no count stated, so the share is by description (c). |
| Remediation and Other Waste Management Services | 7% | Environmental Solutions is 7% of revenue, industrial and hazardous waste services; by revenue (c), with no count stated. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 42,000 full-time employees; a frontline workforce the filing says closely represents the communities served; engagement and turnover reported to the Board.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Waste Collection, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Waste Management, Inc. (WM, 60,500 employees)16% now, 22% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
7 sentences in the filing name AI. Seven sentences: operations increasingly dependent on technology including AI and machine learning tools, the risk that AI tools produce inaccurate, biased or inconsistent outputs, and rights to training data.
- “However, we may not be able to obtain indemnification, insurance coverage or other security, and such indemnification, insurance coverage or other security obtained may not be enforceable, collectible or sufficient in amount, scope or duration to fully offset any undisclosed liabilities arising from our acquisitions. 27 T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s Risks Related to Technology and Intellectual...”
- “Our operations are increasingly dependent on technology, including AI and machine learning tools that we deploy or that are embedded in systems provided by third parties.”
- “AI models and tools can produce inaccurate, biased, or inconsistent outputs and may rely on third-party content or training data for which we do not have sufficient rights.”
- “The costs associated with developing or investing in emerging technologies, particularly data-intensive and compute-intensive AI applications, could require substantial capital and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.”
- “We use information technology and operational technology assets, including computer and information networks and artificial intelligence technologies and services in substantially all aspects of our business operations.”
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 20230median 1
- Fiscal 20240median 4
- Fiscal 20257median 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 42,000 | 2026-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 42,000 | 2025-02-14 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 41,000 | 2024-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 40,000 | 2023-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 35,000 | 2022-02-11 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 35,000 | 2021-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 36,000 | 2020-02-14 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 36,000 | 2019-02-08 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 35,000 | 2018-02-09 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 33,000 | 2017-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 33,000 | 2016-02-12 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 31,000 | 2015-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 31,000 | 2014-02-13 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 30,000 | 2013-02-15 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 30,000 | 2012-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 30,000 | 2011-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 31,000 | 2010-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 35,000 | 2009-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 13,000 | 2008-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 13,000 | 2007-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 13,000 | 2006-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 13,400 | 2005-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 12,900 | 2004-03-12 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 12,700 | 2003-03-27 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 12,700 | 2002-03-28 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 12,700 | 2001-02-22 | 10-K405 |
| 1999-12-31 | 12,000 | 2000-03-13 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-12-31 | 10,000 | 1999-01-29 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by service line or country: the collection, disposal and environmental shares are by description (c), with revenue by service line as the guide.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001060391-26-000094, 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 Republic Services, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 16% now and 22% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Republic Services, 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 Republic Services, Inc. employ?
- 42,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Republic Services, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 3 industry staffing patterns, the largest Waste Collection; by those patterns the work is about 22% desk work, 10% people work and 68% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Republic Services, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 7 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 0 and 7 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
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