The Workforce AI Index · Consumer Cyclical
Tesla (TSLA)
An electric vehicle maker by description. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-01-29. Ranked 29 of the 39 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states one worldwide headcount and nothing by business or country, so the vehicle, energy and retail patterns follow its description.
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: 14% now, 22% 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, 19% people work and 55% 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), 20% 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
134,785 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). The filing does not state a count by country in the text read.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, our employee headcount worldwide was 134,785.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Motor Vehicle Manufacturing | 80% | By (c): the filing states one worldwide headcount and no split, and describes a company that designs, manufactures, sells and services electric vehicles, so most of the workforce is read into the motor vehicle manufacturing pattern by description, with engineering and administrative staff inside it. |
| Other Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing | 10% | By (c): the energy generation and storage business, batteries and solar products, is described without a headcount, so a share is read into the electrical equipment manufacturing pattern by description. |
| Automobile Dealers | 10% | By (c): the filing describes selling and servicing vehicles directly through its own stores and service centers, without a headcount, so a share is read into the automobile dealers pattern by description. |
What the filing says about the workforce: 134,785 employees worldwide; over 29,000 advanced their careers in 2025 and 69% of managers were promoted internally; 92% of employees in total rewards packages with stock ownership opportunities.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Motor Vehicle 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.
- Ford (F, 169,000 employees)15% now, 26% by 2028
- General Motors (GM, 156,000 employees)15% now, 26% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
46 sentences in the filing name AI. AI runs through the filing as 'advancements in real-world AI' in vehicles, autonomy and robotics and as part of its mission and products; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “BUSINESS Overview We are focused on bringing artificial intelligence ("AI") into the real world, through products and services like Full Self-Driving ("FSD") (Supervised) and Robotaxi, as well as working to develop and commercialize AI robots ("Bots") (including Optimus).”
- “We intend to leverage our current operations, in which we design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems that increasingly deliver AI-related and enhanced software and services to our customers, to achieve that objective.”
- “We believe that this mission, along with our engineering expertise, advancements in real-world AI, vertically integrated business model, and focus on user experience differentiate us from other companies.”
- “We expect this service will open access to an expanded customer base as modes of transportation evolve, and, along with products such as FSD (Supervised) subscriptions, unlock the potential to advance a service-driven business model based on AI, software and fleet-based profits.”
- “As AI infrastructure drives rapid load growth, Megapack helps to, among other things, increase utilization of existing generation and transmission capacity, resulting in a more efficient use of the electric grid.”
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 | 134,785 | 2026-01-29 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 125,665 | 2025-01-30 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 140,473 | 2024-01-29 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 127,855 | 2023-01-31 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 99,290 | 2022-02-07 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 70,757 | 2021-02-08 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 48,016 | 2020-02-13 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 48,817 | 2019-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 37,543 | 2018-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 17,782 | 2017-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 13,058 | 2016-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 10,161 | 2015-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 5,859 | 2014-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 2,964 | 2013-03-07 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 1,417 | 2012-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 212 | 2011-03-03 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No split by kind of work or country is stated; all three pattern shares follow the business description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-003952, 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 Tesla's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 14% now and 25% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Tesla'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 Tesla employ?
- 134,785 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Tesla's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 3 industry staffing patterns, the largest Motor Vehicle Manufacturing; by those patterns the work is about 26% desk work, 19% people work and 55% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Tesla's annual report say about AI?
- 46 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.