The Workforce AI Index · Healthcare
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO)
Life sciences across four kinds of work. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-26. Ranked 16 of the 27 Healthcare companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
A life sciences company whose filing states its headcount by region only, so manufacturing, research services, instruments and distribution shares come from the businesses it describes.
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: 19% now, 38% at the end of 2027, 48% at the end of 2028, 53% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 54% desk work, 18% people work and 28% 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 45% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 43% becomes checking a model's work and 6% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
125,000 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). No U.S. share is stated; the Americas hold 59,000 (47%), and 52% of revenue is from the United States.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 125,000 colleagues globally, with an approximate regional distribution as follows: 59,000 based in the Americas, 22,000 in the Asia-Pacific region, and 44,000 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing | 30% | By (c): the filing describes reagents, biologics production and pharma services among its businesses, and consumables are 42% of revenue, with no headcount by segment stated. |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | 25% | By (c): the filing describes clinical research and laboratory services among its services, 42% of revenue with other services, with no count of its own stated. |
| Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | 25% | By (c): the filing describes analytical instruments and diagnostics equipment, 16% of revenue as instruments plus the service on them, with no count of its own stated. |
| Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | 20% | By (c): the filing describes laboratory products distribution to customers worldwide, wholesale work, with no count of its own stated. |
What the filing says about the workforce: 59,000 in the Americas, 22,000 in Asia-Pacific and 44,000 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; an annual employee involvement survey measures leadership, involvement and engagement.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Pharmaceutical and Medicine 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.
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, 140,800 employees)18% now, 38% by 2028
- Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK, 75,000 employees)17% now, 40% by 2028
- Pfizer Inc. (PFE, 75,000 employees)17% now, 40% by 2028
- AbbVie Inc. (ABBV, 57,000 employees)17% now, 40% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
14 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI among the technologies behind new products and services and among the regulated areas it must comply with, including the EU AI Act and responsible use of generative AI.
- “Our success primarily depends on the following factors: 5 THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC INC. technical performance and advances in technology (including artificial intelligence) that result in new products and services, and improved price/performance ratios; product and service differentiation, availability and reliability; the depth of our capabilities; our reputation among customers as a quality p...”
- “We are subject to a broad and evolving set of global requirements related to data privacy, cybersecurity and the responsible use of emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI).”
- “These include comprehensive frameworks such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU's AI Act, U.S. federal and state privacy and security laws (including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for certain operations), and data-localization or cross-border transfer restrictions in various international markets.”
- “Governments in the EU, U.S. and other jurisdictions are also advancing new regulations that govern transparency, risk management and data practices associated with AI systems.”
- “Competitive factors include technological innovation, including the timely, responsible and effective adoption of emerging technologies (such as AI), price, service and delivery, breadth of product line, customer support, e-business capabilities and the ability to meet the special requirements of customers.”
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 | 125,000 | 2026-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 125,000 | 2025-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 122,000 | 2024-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 130,000 | 2023-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 130,000 | 2022-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 80,000 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 75,000 | 2020-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 70,000 | 2019-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 70,000 | 2018-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 55,000 | 2017-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 52,000 | 2016-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 51,000 | 2015-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 50,000 | 2014-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 38,900 | 2013-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 39,300 | 2012-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 37,200 | 2011-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 35,400 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 34,500 | 2009-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 33,000 | 2008-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 30,500 | 2007-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 11,500 | 2006-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 9,900 | 2005-03-16 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 10,800 | 2004-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-28 | 10,900 | 2003-03-07 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-29 | 12,000 | 2002-03-15 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-30 | 13,000 | 2001-03-21 | 10-K |
| 2000-01-01 | 25,400 | 2000-03-22 | 10-K |
| 1999-01-02 | 23,600 | 1999-03-23 | 10-K |
| 1998-01-03 | 22,400 | 1998-03-12 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-28 | 17,760 | 1997-03-20 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-30 | 14,400 | 1996-03-13 | 10-K |
| 1994-12-31 | 10,234 | 1995-03-08 | 10-K |
| 1994-01-01 | 8,800 | 1994-03-09 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- Pattern shares rest on description and revenue by type (c): the filing states headcount by region, not by business.
- Four patterns across manufacturing, research services, instruments and distribution reflect a company the filing describes in several businesses without counts.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000097745-26-000018, 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 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 19% now and 48% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Thermo Fisher Scientific 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 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. employ?
- 125,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 4 industry staffing patterns, the largest Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 54% desk work, 18% people work and 28% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'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.