Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN)
Waste collector, 24,214, 11,347 drivers. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 12, 2026. Ranked 66 of the 75 Industrials companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
16%
End of 2028
21%
Employees, annual report
24,214
Leading staffing pattern
Waste Collection
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now16%
- End of 202720%
- End of 202821%
- End of 203022%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 78%
- Becomes checking a model's work 15%
- Handed over with lighter checks 7%
A waste services company whose filing states its total, its driver and mechanic counts, its countries and a union share, so collection leads by count with disposal by revenue.
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: 16% now, 20% at the end of 2027, 21% at the end of 2028, 22% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 22% desk work, 9% people work and 69% 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 78% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 15% becomes checking a model's work and 7% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
24,214 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). 20,471 employees in the U.S. and 3,743 in Canada, as the filing states.
The filing: “Waste Connections' key human capital management objectives are designed to: ● Ensure our people and communities are safe and healthy ● Reward and support employees through competitive pay, benefits and wellness programs ● Acquire and retain high-performing talent that aligns with our Operating Values 3 Table of Contents ● Enhance our culture through employee engagement ● Develop talent for crit...”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Waste Collection | 75% | Counted (a) and by description (c): 11,347 commercial truck drivers and 2,020 mechanics are stated, and solid waste collection is 71% of revenue, so three quarters of the workforce, the drivers, helpers, mechanics and the local operations around them, take the waste collection pattern. |
| Waste Treatment and Disposal | 25% | By revenue (c): landfill (16%), transfer (15%), exploration and production waste treatment (7%) and recycling (3%) are the disposal and treatment side, read at a quarter of the workforce. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 24,214 active employees as of December 31, 2025, including 11,347 commercial truck drivers and 2,020 mechanics; 20,471 in the U.S. and 3,743 in Canada; about 16% under collective bargaining agreements, mainly with the Teamsters; 44% ethnic minorities, 17% women, 7% veterans.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Waste Collection, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Waste Management, Inc. (WM, 60,500 employees)16% now, 22% by 2028
- Republic Services, Inc. (RSG, 42,000 employees)16% now, 22% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
6 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing names AI 6 times, as a technology it must adapt to and manage, with risks of poor quality, privacy and automated decisions.
- “Our inability to adapt to and manage the benefits and risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could expose us to liability or put us at a disadvantage.”
- “If we are not able to adapt and effectively incorporate potential advantages of AI in our business, it may negatively impact our ability to compete.”
- “On the other hand, if we are not able to effectively manage the commercial and legal risks of AI, including the potential for poor or inconsistent quality, privacy concerns, risks related to automated decision-making, and the potential for exposure of confidential and/or propriety information, we may suffer harm to our results of operation and reputation.”
- “The development, adoption, and commercial use of generative AI technologies are still in their early stages and ineffective or inadequate AI development or deployment practices by us or our third-party developers or vendors could result in unintended consequences.”
- “Developing, testing, and deploying resource-intensive AI systems may require additional investment and increase our costs.”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 20210median 0
- Fiscal 20220median 0
- Fiscal 20230median 1
- Fiscal 20246median 4
- Fiscal 20256median 10
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 | 24,214 | 2026-02-12 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 23,854 | 2025-02-13 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 22,539 | 2024-02-14 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 22,109 | 2023-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 19,998 | 2022-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 18,933 | 2021-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 18,204 | 2020-02-13 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 16,356 | 2019-02-14 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 15,283 | 2018-02-15 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 14,671 | 2017-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-31 | not read | 2016-03-03 | 40-F |
| 2014-12-31 | not read | 2015-03-30 | 40-F |
| 2013-12-31 | not read | 2014-03-28 | 40-F |
| 2012-12-31 | not read | 2013-04-02 | 40-F |
| 2011-12-31 | not read | 2012-03-20 | 40-F |
| 2010-12-31 | not read | 2011-03-31 | 40-F |
| 2009-12-31 | not read | 2010-03-31 | 40-F |
Limits of this reading
- The split between collection and disposal rests on segment revenue (c) around the stated driver and mechanic counts.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001104659-26-013700, 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.
The report on Waste Connections, Inc., $29
This page as a document to keep, with what it does not show: the share within reach at every date on three paces and two reliabilities, a typical workforce of this shape at the stated headcount role by role and task by task (the industries' staffing, never the company's roster), where to start, what changes for the people and what they would learn, every sentence in the filing that names AI, the headcount by year, the companies read with the same leading pattern, the method and a citation line. To print or save as a PDF, open again in your browser for a year.
See the report, $29See the sample first: Walmart's report is free
Questions about this company
- How much of Waste Connections, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 16% now and 21% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Waste Connections, 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 Waste Connections, Inc. employ?
- 24,214 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 85% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Waste Connections, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Waste Collection; by those patterns the work is about 22% desk work, 9% people work and 69% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Waste Connections, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 6 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 6 and 6 sentences, year by year. 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 19, 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.