Sweetgreen, Inc. (SG)

Salad restaurants, support center counted. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 28, 2025, filed February 27, 2026. Ranked 164 of the 184 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

Sweetgreen’s 6,486 employees are 6,238 in its restaurants and 248 at its support center, both counted by the filing.

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: 11% now, 14% at the end of 2027, 15% at the end of 2028, 15% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 15% desk work, 22% people work and 63% 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 84% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 11% 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

6,486 employees as of December 28, 2025 (stated). The filing’s human capital section counts no employees by country.

The filing: “As of December 28, 2025, we had a total of 6,486 employees, 248 of whom worked at our Sweetgreen Support Center and 6,238 of whom worked in our restaurants.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: 6,486 employees, 6,238 in restaurants and 248 at the support center; 52% of open restaurant leadership roles filled by promotion in 2025.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

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

• Starbucks (SBUX, 381,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC, 290,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Darden (DRI, 209,931 employees)11% now, 13% by 2028
• McDonald's Corporation (MCD, 150,000 employees)11% now, 13% by 2028
• Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG, 130,301 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH, 101,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Brinker International, Inc. (EAT, 85,003 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL, 74,500 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

12 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI twelve times, as risks: its increasing use of AI including generative AI, and misuse of sensitive information through AI tools.

• “We and the third parties with whom we work face a variety of evolving cybersecurity threats, including social-engineering attacks (such as phishing), malicious code, malware, advanced persistent threat intrusions, denial-of-service attacks, credential stuffing, credential harvesting, ransomware, personnel misconduct or error, software bugs, supply-chain attacks, server malfunctions, software or...”
• “Sensitive information may also be disclosed or misused in connection with our employees', personnel's, or vendors' use of generative artificial intelligence technologies.”
• “Our increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), including but not limited to generative AI, may result in errors, loss of sensitive information, additional compliance obligations, cybersecurity incidents, and legal liability, which could harm our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations.”
• “We have begun using various third party software solutions that rely upon artificial intelligence (AI), including but not limited to generative AI.”
• “Generative AI is a type of AI that uses generative models to create text and other content.”

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 20234median 1
• Fiscal 20245median 4
• Fiscal 202512median 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

• The revenue table (gift card at 100%) is not usable.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-012520, 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.