Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM)
Restaurant franchisor, 49,000 employees, 57% in the U.S.. Read October 2, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed February 20, 2026. Ranked 54 of the 54 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
10%
End of 2028
13%
Employees, annual report
49,000
Leading staffing pattern
Restaurants and Other Eating Places
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now10%
- End of 202713%
- End of 202813%
- End of 203013%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 87%
- Becomes checking a model's work 9%
- Handed over with lighter checks 4%
The filing states the total and the U.S. count, nothing by kind of work, so the whole workforce takes the restaurant pattern by description (c).
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: 10% 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
49,000 employees as of December 31, 2025 (stated). About 28,000 in the U.S. and 21,000 outside.
The filing: “As of December 31, 2025, the Company and its subsidiaries employed approximately 49,000 persons (collectively referred to throughout this filing as "our employees" or "YUM employees"), including approximately 28,000 employees in the U.S. and approximately 21,000 employees outside the U.S.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 100% | The company's own employees work in its restaurants and its restaurant support centers; the filing states no count for either, so one restaurant pattern by description (c), the support centers inside it under rule 6. |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 49,000 persons, 28,000 in the U.S. and 21,000 outside; franchisees employ their own restaurant staff; a global engagement survey of restaurant support center employees every other year.
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)10% now, 13% by 2028
- McDonald's Corporation (MCD, 150,000 employees)10% 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
12 sentences in the filing name AI. Twelve sentences: the Byte by Yum! platform of proprietary software and AI driven products for team members and customers, its design to enable faster adoption of AI by the company and its brands, and the risk that AI adoption may heighten cybersecurity risks.
- “In 2025, we introduced our Byte by Yum! platform, a comprehensive collection of proprietary software as a service and artificial intelligence ("AI") driven products that enables easy operations for team members and improved experiences for customers, while consolidating essential systems into a cohesive, easy-to-manage platform.”
- “The implementation of Byte by Yum! is also designed to enable a faster and more impactful adoption of AI by YUM and its brands, and offers franchisees leading technology capabilities with advantaged economics made possible by the scale of YUM all with a goal of unlocking new insights and driving profitable sales growth. 5 Digital sales include transactions where consumers at system restaurants...”
- “In addition, the rapid evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence ("AI") and other emerging technologies may heighten our cybersecurity risks by making cyber-attacks and social engineering more difficult to detect, contain and mitigate.”
- “Additionally, we are subject to increasing legal requirements with respect to the use of AI and machine learning applications and tools (including in relation to hiring and 14 employment practices and in digitally marketing our Concepts), data collected from minors, and biometric information.”
- “Moreover, technology and consumer offerings continue to develop, and our failure to adequately invest in or implement new technology (e.g., automation, AI, new delivery channels) or adapt to technological advancements and industry trends, particularly with respect to digital commerce capabilities, could result in dissatisfaction from our customers or our employees (or the employees of our Conce...”
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 20211median 0
- Fiscal 20222median 0
- Fiscal 20233median 1
- Fiscal 202411median 4
- Fiscal 202512median 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 | 49,000 | 2026-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-31 | 40,000 | 2025-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 35,000 | 2024-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2022-12-31 | 36,000 | 2023-02-27 | 10-K |
| 2021-12-31 | 36,000 | 2022-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2020-12-31 | 38,000 | 2021-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-31 | 34,000 | 2020-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-31 | 34,000 | 2019-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 60,000 | 2018-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2016-12-31 | 90,000 | 2017-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2015-12-26 | 505,000 | 2016-02-16 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-27 | 537,000 | 2015-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-28 | 539,000 | 2014-02-18 | 10-K |
| 2012-12-29 | 523,000 | 2013-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2011-12-31 | 466,000 | 2012-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2010-12-25 | 378,000 | 2011-02-15 | 10-K |
| 2009-12-26 | 350,000 | 2010-02-17 | 10-K |
| 2008-12-27 | 336,000 | 2009-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2008-01-28 | 301,000 | 2008-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2006-12-31 | 280,000 | 2007-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2006-03-02 | 272,000 | 2006-03-03 | 10-K |
| 2004-12-25 | 256,000 | 2005-02-28 | 10-K |
| 2003-12-27 | 265,000 | 2004-03-05 | 10-K |
| 2002-12-28 | 244,000 | 2003-03-11 | 10-K |
| 2001-12-29 | 210,000 | 2002-03-11 | 10-K |
| 2000-12-30 | 190,000 | 2001-03-28 | 10-K |
| 1999-12-25 | 210,000 | 2000-03-06 | 10-K |
| 1998-12-26 | 260,000 | 1999-03-23 | 10-K |
| 1997-12-27 | 350,000 | 1998-03-26 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count by kind of work: the restaurant support centers' staff are inside the restaurant pattern (rule 6).
- Franchisees' restaurant staff are not the company's employees (rule 8).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001041061-26-000084, 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 Yum! Brands, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 10% now and 13% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Yum! Brands, 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 Yum! Brands, Inc. employ?
- 49,000 as of December 31, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 31, 2025 states. About 57% in the U.S.
- What kinds of work make up Yum! Brands, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Restaurants and Other Eating Places; by those patterns the work is about 13% desk work, 22% people work and 65% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Yum! Brands, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 12 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 1, 2, 3, 11 and 12 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 2, 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.