The Workforce AI Index · Industrials
UPS (UPS)
A delivery network with stated workforce counts. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-17. Ranked 25 of the 28 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states the total, the U.S. share and the hourly and management counts with their part-time shares, and describes a workforce reduction in 2025; the pattern split rests on its description of the delivery and logistics businesses.
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: 15% now, 17% at the end of 2027, 17% at the end of 2028, 18% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 18% desk work, 7% people work and 75% 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 82% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 11% 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
460,000 employees as of 2025-12-31 (stated). 370,000 of 460,000 employees are in the U.S. and 90,000 international, excluding temporary seasonal employees.
The filing: “We have approximately 460,000 employees (excluding temporary seasonal employees), of which 370,000 are in the U.S. and 90,000 are located internationally.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Couriers and Express Delivery Services | 92% | By (a) in part and (c) for the split: the filing states about 385,000 hourly employees and about 75,000 management employees, and describes the business as package pickup, sorting, transport and delivery, which is the couriers and express delivery pattern; the small logistics part below has no stated count. |
| Warehousing and Storage | 8% | By (c): the filing describes a Supply Chain Solutions business of logistics and distribution services without a headcount, so a small share is read into the warehousing pattern by description. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 385,000 hourly employees (nearly 50% part-time) and about 75,000 management employees (nearly 35% part-time), excluding temporary seasonal employees; many employees are under collective bargaining agreements. The filing states that in 2025 it reduced its operational workforce by about 48,000 positions, including 15,000 fewer seasonal positions, and management by about 14,000 positions, and closed daily operations at 93 buildings.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Couriers and Express Delivery Services, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- FedEx (FDX, 530,000 employees)16% now, 19% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
7 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing says it is 'increasing our utilization of artificial intelligence to optimize our operations, improve the customer experience and support decision-making', offers AI-enabled digital tools to customers, and names AI as a cybersecurity and data risk.
- “We leverage advanced and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence ("AI"), and offer a variety of digital tools and capabilities that enable customers to integrate UPS functionality into their distribution channels.”
- “In addition, we are increasing our utilization of artificial intelligence ("AI") to optimize our operations, improve the customer experience and support decision-making.”
- “The rapid evolution and increased adoption of AI technologies has and may continue to intensify our cybersecurity risks.”
- “AI technologies often require access to large volumes of sensitive data.”
- “If our AI systems are compromised through cyberattacks or unauthorized access, it could result in data breaches, a loss of proprietary information, or violations of data protection laws.”
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 | 460,000 | 2026-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 490,000 | 2025-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 500,000 | 2024-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 536,000 | 2023-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 534,000 | 2022-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 543,000 | 2021-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 495,000 | 2020-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 481,000 | 2019-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 454,000 | 2018-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 434,000 | 2017-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 444,000 | 2016-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 435,000 | 2015-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 395,000 | 2014-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 399,000 | 2013-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 398,000 | 2012-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 400,600 | 2011-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 408,000 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 426,000 | 2009-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 425,300 | 2008-02-29 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 428,000 | 2007-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 407,000 | 2006-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 384,000 | 2005-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 355,000 | 2004-03-05 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 360,000 | 2003-03-06 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 371,000 | 2002-03-29 | 10-K405 |
| 2000-12-31 | 359,000 | 2001-04-02 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-31 | 344,000 | 2000-03-30 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The split between delivery and logistics work follows the business description (c); the filing states hourly and management counts but not counts by business.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-008432, 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 UPS's working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 15% now and 17% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce UPS'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 UPS employ?
- 460,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 80% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up UPS's workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Couriers and Express Delivery Services; by those patterns the work is about 18% desk work, 7% people work and 75% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does UPS's annual report say about AI?
- 7 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.