Fortune 500 sales and profits hit records as payrolls shrink

The largest U.S. companies by revenue grew richer in Fortune's 2026 ranking while employing fewer people. Fortune reported that the group set records for revenue, profit and revenue per worker even as its combined workforce fell for a second straight year.

The 500 companies produced $21 trillion in revenue, up 5% from the prior year, Fortune said. Their combined profit rose 12% to $2.1 trillion, and their market value climbed 19% to $55 trillion in a fiscal year Fortune linked to heavy spending on artificial intelligence and investor enthusiasm around the technology.

Employment moved the other way. Fortune said total headcount fell 1% to 30.5 million workers, a decline of 301,049 jobs across the ranking.

List changes drove much of the decline

Fortune said the composition of the list helps explain the drop. Since 1995, when the ranking first included service companies, Fortune said declines in overall Fortune 500 employment have occurred only during or after recessions.

This year's churn mattered because some large employers left the ranking. Walgreens Boots Alliance dropped off after private equity firm Sycamore Partners acquired it in August 2025, Fortune reported. Walgreens had 252,500 employees on the prior year's list, placing it among the 25 largest employers in the ranking.

Nordstrom also exited after a take-private transaction, Fortune said. The retailer employed 41,000 people. In all, Fortune said the 22 companies that left the list had 659,640 employees.

Their replacements had far fewer workers. Fortune said the 22 new companies employed 317,414 people combined. The biggest employer among them was Amentum Holdings, a Virginia engineering and technology services company with 50,000 workers, followed by Illinois health care supply company Medline, with 45,000.

Companies that stayed barely added workers

Fortune said companies that remained on the list from 2025 to 2026 added 41,177 workers, offsetting only a small part of the decline caused by list turnover. Among continuing companies, employment rose 0.1%.

Harvard economics professor Lawrence Katz told Fortune that the pattern reflects a “low-hire, low-fire economy.” Fortune said Amazon, the No. 1 company in the 2026 ranking, added 20,000 workers, a 1.3% increase. Walmart's headcount was unchanged, while UnitedHealth Group employed 10,000 fewer people, a 2.5% decline.

Some individual companies expanded faster. Fortune said Dick's Sporting Goods increased its staffing by 83.1%, adding 31,050 workers, after acquiring Foot Locker in September. Carvana added 5,700 employees, a 32.8% increase, as the online used-car seller continued its rebound after a 99% stock decline, Fortune reported.

By sector, Fortune said retail remained the largest employer in the ranking, with just over 7 million workers, though its headcount fell 0.9%. Technology employment fell 1% to 3.8 million, while financial companies increased staffing 0.9% to 3.5 million.

More revenue per worker

Katz told Fortune that large companies have shifted labor-intensive work outside their walls while benefiting from technology-driven productivity gains. He said big firms have increased sales and value added far faster than employment, with gains concentrated among highly skilled professional workers rather than broadly shared across large workforces.

Fortune said the arithmetic shows the change clearly: Fortune 500 companies generated $687,094 in revenue per employee and $68,743 in profit per employee, both records. Fortune also cited Economic Policy Institute data showing inflation-adjusted wages have stayed relatively flat over the same broad period.

Artificial intelligence could extend the trend, Fortune reported, as CEOs press employees to use the technology to improve efficiency. Katz told Fortune that new business formation and smaller enterprises are rising, but some AI-centered companies may not create workforces as large as older corporate models.

Fortune pointed to two new digital-asset companies with unusually small staffs. Bitgo Holdings, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, entered at No. 278 with 603 employees, while New York-based Galaxy Digital debuted at No. 76 with 700 employees. Fortune said the next-smallest employer in the top 100 had nearly eight times as many workers.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.