The Workforce AI Index · Communication Services
AT&T (T)
A telecom read as one pattern. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-09. Ranked 1 of the 10 Communication Services companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states one total and describes one business, so the workforce is read entirely into the telecommunications pattern.
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: 26% now, 42% at the end of 2027, 49% at the end of 2028, 51% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 51% desk work, 20% people work and 29% 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 49% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 38% becomes checking a model's work and 10% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
133,030 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing does not state a count by country; its union contracts cover employees across U.S. states.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 133,030 persons.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Telecommunications | 100% | By (c): the filing states one total and describes one business, wireless and wireline communications services, so the whole workforce is read into the telecommunications pattern; no count by group is stated. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 133,030 persons; union contracts expiring in 2026 cover groups of about 9,000 employees across 36 states and the District of Columbia and about 4,300 across five states; no total union share is stated.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Telecommunications, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Comcast (CMCSA, 179,000 employees)23% now, 47% by 2028
- Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR, 91,900 employees)26% now, 49% by 2028
- Verizon (VZ, 89,900 employees)26% now, 49% by 2028
- T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS, 75,000 employees)26% now, 49% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
14 sentences in the filing name AI. AI appears in the business and risk discussion as a driver of data demand on its networks (AI-enabled applications) and as a pressure on supply chains from others' AI spending; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “Streaming, augmented reality, "smart" technologies, user generated content and artificial intelligence (AI) are expected to continue to drive greater demand for broadband, which we believe will allow us to capitalize on our fiber and 5G deployments.”
- “With the continued rise of data-intensive activities, like on-the-go video streaming, augmented reality, user generated content, AI-enabled applications, remote work and the widespread adoption of smart devices, we are experiencing increasing demand for high-speed broadband services.”
- “Recent spending by hyperscalers and others to support AI is beginning to pressure supply chains for goods such as semiconductors and other network components.”
- “Streaming, augmented reality, "smart" technologies, user generated content and AI are expected to continue to drive greater demand for broadband.”
- “An increasing number of our customers are using mobile devices for using AI-enabled applications and as their primary means of viewing video.”
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 | 133,030 | 2026-02-09 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 140,990 | 2025-02-12 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 149,900 | 2024-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 160,700 | 2023-02-13 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 203,000 | 2022-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 230,000 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 246,000 | 2020-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 268,000 | 2019-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 252,000 | 2018-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 268,000 | 2017-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 281,000 | 2016-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 253,000 | 2015-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 243,000 | 2014-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 242,000 | 2013-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 256,000 | 2012-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 265,410 | 2011-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2010-02-25 | 281,000 | 2010-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2009-02-25 | 301,000 | 2009-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2008-02-26 | 310,000 | 2008-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 302,000 | 2007-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 189,000 | 2006-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 162,000 | 2005-03-11 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 168,000 | 2004-03-11 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 175,400 | 2003-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 192,550 | 2002-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 215,088 | 2001-03-12 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 204,530 | 2000-03-10 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-31 | 129,850 | 1999-03-12 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 118,340 | 1998-03-11 | 10-K405 |
| 1996-12-31 | 61,540 | 1997-03-11 | 10-K405 |
| 1995-12-31 | 59,300 | 1996-03-12 | 10-K405 |
| 1994-12-31 | 58,750 | 1995-03-14 | 10-K405 |
| 1993-12-31 | 59,040 | 1994-03-18 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by group or country is stated; the single pattern follows the description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000732717-26-000120, 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 AT&T's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 26% now and 49% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce AT&T'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 AT&T employ?
- 133,030 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up AT&T's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Telecommunications; by those patterns the work is about 51% desk work, 20% people work and 29% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does AT&T's annual report say about AI?
- 14 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.