The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Defensive
Sysco Corporation (SYY)
Food distributor, one pattern. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2026-06-27, filed 2026-08-21. Ranked 2 of the 16 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing counts 52,000 U.S. and 23,000 non-U.S. employees in one foodservice distribution business, so one wholesale pattern carries the workforce (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: 22% now, 30% at the end of 2027, 32% at the end of 2028, 32% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 32% desk work, 17% people work and 50% 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 67% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 19% becomes checking a model's work and 12% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
75,000 employees as of 2026-06-27 (stated). The filing counts 52,000 U.S. employees and 23,000 outside the U.S.
The filing: “As of June 27, 2026, we employed approximately 75,000 employees, including 52,000 U.S. employees and 23,000 employees outside the U.S., as compared to approximately 75,000 employees as of June 28, 2025.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4244 and 4248 only) | 100% | By description (c): foodservice distribution, grocery wholesaling by the filing's SIC code, across its U.S., international and SYGMA operations, with no count by kind of work. |
What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 75,000 employees, 52,000 in the U.S. and 23,000 outside; about 99% of U.S. colleagues full-time; about 14% union-represented, mainly the Teamsters and unions in France and Sweden; hourly colleagues averaged about $28 an hour in fiscal 2026.
What the filing says about AI
16 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI in 16 sentences, as risk: its growing use of AI systems in operations, competitors using AI and machine learning, and fictitious content produced by generative AI.
- “Our growing use of artificial intelligence systems in our operations poses inherent risks and could adversely affect our results of operations.”
- “Additionally, increased competition from non-traditional sources (such as club stores and commercial wholesale outlets with lower cost structures), online direct food wholesalers, cash and carry operations, and competitors that are utilizing technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, have served to further increase pressure on the industry's profit margins.”
- “The increased use of social media may increase the likelihood and magnitude of negative publicity across media channels, regardless of its accuracy or the reputability of its source, including as a result of fictitious media content (such as content produced by generative artificial intelligence or bad actors).”
- “Cyber threats are constantly evolving, are becoming more sophisticated and frequent, including through the introduction of viruses and malware (such as ransomware) and the use of artificial intelligence by the threat actors, and are being made by groups and individuals with a wide range of expertise and motives, and this increases the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against t...”
- “For example, we may incorporate emerging artificial intelligence solutions into our platform, offerings, services and features, and these applications may become important in our operations over time.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-27 | 75,000 | 2026-08-21 | 10-K |
| 2025-06-28 | 75,000 | 2025-08-22 | 10-K |
| 2024-06-29 | 76,000 | 2024-08-28 | 10-K |
| 2023-07-01 | 72,000 | 2023-08-25 | 10-K |
| 2022-07-02 | 71,000 | 2022-08-26 | 10-K |
| 2021-07-03 | 58,000 | 2021-08-30 | 10-K |
| 2020-06-27 | 57,000 | 2020-08-26 | 10-K |
| 2019-06-29 | 69,000 | 2019-08-26 | 10-K |
| 2018-06-30 | 67,000 | 2018-08-27 | 10-K |
| 2017-07-01 | 66,500 | 2017-08-30 | 10-K |
| 2016-07-02 | 51,900 | 2016-08-30 | 10-K |
| 2015-06-27 | 51,700 | 2015-08-25 | 10-K |
| 2014-06-28 | 50,300 | 2014-08-26 | 10-K |
| 2013-06-29 | 48,100 | 2013-08-27 | 10-K |
| 2012-06-30 | 47,800 | 2012-08-28 | 10-K |
| 2011-07-02 | 46,000 | 2011-08-30 | 10-K |
| 2010-07-03 | 46,000 | 2010-08-31 | 10-K |
| 2009-06-27 | 47,000 | 2009-08-25 | 10-K |
| 2008-06-28 | 50,000 | 2008-08-26 | 10-K |
| 2007-06-30 | 50,900 | 2007-08-28 | 10-K |
| 2006-07-01 | 49,600 | 2006-09-14 | 10-K |
| 2005-07-02 | 47,500 | 2005-09-15 | 10-K |
| 2004-07-03 | 47,800 | 2004-09-16 | 10-K |
| 2003-06-28 | 47,400 | 2003-09-26 | 10-K |
| 2002-06-29 | 46,800 | 2002-09-25 | 10-K |
| 2001-06-30 | 43,000 | 2001-09-27 | 10-K |
| 2000-07-01 | 40,400 | 2000-09-27 | 10-K |
| 1999-07-03 | 35,100 | 1999-09-24 | 10-K |
| 1998-06-27 | 33,400 | 1998-09-24 | 10-K |
| 1997-06-28 | 32,000 | 1997-09-25 | 10-K |
| 1996-06-29 | 30,600 | 1996-09-26 | 10-K |
| 1995-07-01 | 28,100 | 1995-09-27 | 10-K |
| 1994-07-02 | 26,200 | 1994-09-29 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The filing counts people by country, not by kind of work; the single pattern rests on its description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000096021-26-000033, 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 Sysco Corporation's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 22% now and 32% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Sysco 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 Sysco Corporation employ?
- 75,000 as of June 27, 2026, as its annual report for the period ending June 27, 2026 states. About 69% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Sysco Corporation's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4244 and 4248 only); by those patterns the work is about 32% desk work, 17% people work and 50% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Sysco Corporation's annual report say about AI?
- 16 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.
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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.