The Wendy's Company (WEN)

Company-operated restaurants, two-thirds part-time. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 28, 2025, filed February 23, 2026. Ranked 160 of the 161 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing states 14,900 employees, two-thirds part-time and the vast majority in company-operated U.S. restaurants, so one restaurant pattern carries the workforce.

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: 11% now, 13% at the end of 2027, 13% at the end of 2028, 13% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 13% desk work, 22% people work and 65% 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 87% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 9% 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

14,900 employees as of December 28, 2025 (stated). Not stated as a count; the filing says the vast majority of employees are in the United States, in company-operated restaurants.

The filing: “As of December 28, 2025, the Company was comprised of approximately 14,900 employees, of which approximately one-third were full-time, and two-thirds were part-time.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: About one-third full-time and two-thirds part-time; the vast majority in company-operated U.S. restaurants, the rest at the restaurant support center in Dublin, Ohio and abroad; franchisees' crews are not company employees (rule 8).

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Restaurants and Other Eating Places, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

• Starbucks (SBUX, 381,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC, 290,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Darden (DRI, 209,931 employees)11% now, 13% by 2028
• McDonald's Corporation (MCD, 150,000 employees)11% now, 13% by 2028
• Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG, 130,301 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH, 101,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Brinker International, Inc. (EAT, 85,003 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL, 74,500 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

6 sentences in the filing name AI. Six sentences: AI is named among quick-service restaurant technologies with mobile ordering and kiosks, among the company's planned digital investments including AI integrated in its restaurants, and in a risk factor on digital platforms meeting customer expectations.

• “In the quick-service restaurant category, technology initiatives include mobile interactive technology for brand and menu search information, mobile ordering, mobile 9 payment, mobile offers, mobile order pick-up and carryout, customer loyalty and rewards programs, artificial intelligence ("AI") and other self-service technologies.”
• “Technology and consumer offerings continue to develop and evolve, and we expect that new and enhanced technologies and consumer offerings will be available in the future, including those with a focus on restaurant modernization, restaurant technology, digital engagement and integration, AI, online ordering and delivery.”
• “If our digital commerce platforms and strategies, including our planned investments to support digital growth through enhancements to the Wendy's mobile app, loyalty program and personalized marketing capabilities and the continued rollout and implementation of digital menu boards, kiosks and AI integrated in our restaurants, do not meet customers' expectations in terms of security, privacy, sp...”
• “Furthermore, with the rapid advancement and proliferation of AI and other similar technologies, any efforts by us and our franchisees to incorporate such technologies into our business may require substantial resources to be expended and divert the attention of management and may also prove to be unsuccessful.”
• “Laws and regulations are evolving both in the United States and internationally around the use of AI technologies, including through some state laws that impose additional restrictions on automated decision-making.”

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 20233median 1
• Fiscal 20245median 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.

Limits of this reading

• The restaurant support organization has no stated count, so management of companies gets no share (rule 6).
• The U.S. share is not stated as a count.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0000030697-26-000009, 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.