The Workforce AI Index · Communication Services
Verizon (VZ)
A telecom with stated U.S. and union shares. Read October 1, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-17. Ranked 4 of the 10 Communication Services companies read so far, by the share within reach now: the sector.
The filing states a full-time equivalent total with its U.S. and union shares and describes one business, so the workforce is read entirely into the telecommunications pattern, with the announced reduction recorded as the filing states it.
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
89,900 employees as of 2025-12-31 (full-time equivalent). 89% of employees are based in the U.S.
The filing: “Verizon has approximately 89,900 employees on a full-time equivalent basis as of December 31, 2025, 89% of whom are based in the U.S.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Telecommunications | 100% | By (c): the filing states a full-time equivalent total, the U.S. share and the union share, and describes one business, wireless and wireline networks and services, so the whole workforce is read into the telecommunications pattern. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 89,900 full-time equivalent employees; about 27% represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; about 179,400 retirees eligible for benefit plans. The filing says that in the fourth quarter of 2025 the company announced plans to reduce its workforce by more than 13,000 positions as part of a cost and efficiency initiative.
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
- AT&T (T, 133,030 employees)26% now, 49% by 2028
- Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR, 91,900 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
17 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing says its networks leverage advanced technologies including AI and that its network infrastructure is positioned to handle the capacity demands of AI; the human capital section does not mention it.
- “In addition, we have a robust digital and omni-channel, and are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and digital capabilities as a part of the customer experience in order to offer choice and convenience.”
- “Network Evolution Our networks leverage advanced technologies, including 5G wireless, fiber-based transport, cloud infrastructures, AI and automation, private networks and IP routing solutions.”
- “Our evolving network infrastructure positions us well to handle increased capacity demands of AI.”
- “We anticipate that demand for spectrum will continue to increase over time, driven by growth in customer connections and the increased usage of wireless broadband services that use more bandwidth and require faster rates of speed, as well as AI driven data demands and future transition to 6G.”
- “The rapid evolution and increasing use of AI technologies also contribute to increasing competition and may affect the competitive landscape in ways we cannot fully predict.”
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 | 89,900 | 2026-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 99,600 | 2025-02-12 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 105,400 | 2024-02-09 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 117,100 | 2023-02-10 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 118,400 | 2022-02-11 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 132,200 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 135,000 | 2020-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 144,500 | 2019-02-15 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 155,400 | 2018-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 160,900 | 2017-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | 177,700 | 2016-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-31 | 177,300 | 2015-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-31 | 176,800 | 2014-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-31 | 183,400 | 2013-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 193,900 | 2012-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-31 | 194,400 | 2011-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-31 | 222,900 | 2010-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-31 | 223,900 | 2009-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2007-12-31 | 235,000 | 2008-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 242,000 | 2007-03-01 | 10-K |
| 2005-12-31 | 217,000 | 2006-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-31 | 210,000 | 2005-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-31 | 203,100 | 2004-03-12 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-31 | 229,500 | 2003-03-14 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-31 | 247,000 | 2002-03-20 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-31 | 260,000 | 2001-03-23 | 10-K405 |
| 1999-12-31 | 145,000 | 2000-03-30 | 10-K405 |
| 1998-12-31 | 140,000 | 1999-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-31 | 141,000 | 1998-03-25 | 10-K |
| 1996-12-31 | 62,600 | 1997-03-25 | 10-K |
| 1995-12-31 | 61,800 | 1996-03-28 | 10-K405 |
| 1994-12-31 | 72,300 | 1995-03-30 | 10-K |
| 1993-12-31 | 73,600 | 1994-03-31 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- The headcount is a full-time equivalent count; the single pattern follows the description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000732712-26-000007, 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 Verizon'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 Verizon'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 Verizon employ?
- 89,900 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states, in full-time equivalents. About 89% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Verizon'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 Verizon's annual report say about AI?
- 17 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.