Sonoco Products Company (SON)

Metal, paper and plastic packaging plants. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 26, 2026. Ranked 73 of the 94 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

A packaging maker whose filing states a full-time equivalent total, its share by region and the count of one acquired business, so the metal can pattern is counted and the paper and plastics patterns follow segment revenue.

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, 23% at the end of 2027, 25% at the end of 2028, 26% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 26% desk work, 11% people work and 64% 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 74% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 21% becomes checking a model's work and 5% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.

Headcount

22,000 employees as of December 31, 2025 (full-time equivalent). Approximately 35% of the 22,000 full-time equivalent employees are located in the United States, 42% in Europe and 23% in other geographies.

The filing: “Following the divestitures of TFP and ThermoSafe in 2025, Sonoco had approximately 22,000 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025, of which approximately 35% are located in the United States, 42% in Europe, and 23% in other geographies.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: About 22,000 full-time equivalent employees after the 2025 divestitures of TFP and ThermoSafe: 35% in the United States, 42% in Europe, 23% elsewhere; about 16.5% of North American employees were represented by unions, and many in Europe by unions, works councils or other labor organizations; the Eviosys acquisition in December 2024 brought about 6,500 employees in 44 plants.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Converted Paper Product 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.

• Smurfit Westrock plc (SW, 97,000 employees)14% now, 24% by 2028
• International Paper Company (IP, 62,602 employees)14% now, 24% by 2028
• Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB, 36,000 employees)15% now, 23% by 2028
• Avery Dennison Corporation (AVY, 35,000 employees)18% now, 26% by 2028
• Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK, 23,000 employees)14% now, 24% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

10 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI only inside long risk-factor and forward-looking sentences about competition, international operations and its portfolio strategy; it describes no AI use of its own.

• “Such risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, without limitation: ability to manage the mix of business and execute on the Company's portfolio simplification strategy, including with respect to divestitures, such as the divestitures of TFP and ThermoSafe; ability to identify suitable acquisitions at the levels needed to meet growth targets; ability to satisfy closing conditions and close a...”
• “These additional risks, which can vary substantially by country and by region, can adversely affect our business operations and financial results, and include, without limitation: foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and foreign currency exchange controls; hyperinflation and currency devaluation; possible limitations on conversion of foreign currencies into dollars, or payment of dividen...”
• “These competitive advantages may enable our competition to adapt more quickly to changing customer or consumer preferences, including with respect to more sustainable products and packaging; changes brought about by public health events, supply chain constraints, 14 FORM 10-K SONOCO 2025 ANNUAL REPORT inflationary pressures, currency fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainty, and increased interes...”
• “For example, growing use of AI by our competitors could disrupt our business model and lower the barriers to entry in the markets we serve.”
• “If our competitors invest in, develop and utilize AI tools more effectively than us to innovate and introduce go-to-market solutions more rapidly and compete more effectively on quality and price, we could lose business and the profitability of our business could be reduced.”

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 20247median 4
• Fiscal 202510median 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 headcount is a full-time equivalent count; the collector's pick of 6,500 was the Eviosys acquisition's count, replaced by the stated total (rule 2).
• One pattern share rests on the stated Eviosys count (a); the others rest on segment revenue and description (c).

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000091767-26-000008, 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.