Fortune 500's Largest Employers: Walmart, Amazon and UPS Lead With Roughly Seven Million Workers
Globally, Walmart is the largest private employer, with a workforce of approximately 2.1 million, including 1.6 million in the United States. The retail giant operates more than 10,500 locations across 19 countries, which encompasses Sam's Club. Following Walmart, Amazon employs around 1.5 million individuals, mainly in fulfillment and delivery, having added over 100,000 seasonal positions while eliminating 27,000 corporate jobs since late 2022. Both UPS and FedEx have around 500,000 employees, with UPS making job cuts since 2023. Other notable employers include Home Depot with 465,000, Target with 440,000, and Kroger with about 430,000, which is currently facing a blocked merger with Albertsons. In total, these ten companies provide jobs for roughly seven million people.
Key facts
- Walmart employs roughly 2.1 million people worldwide, about 1.6 million in the U.S.
- Amazon's global workforce is about 1.5 million, second only to Walmart on the Fortune 500
- UPS and FedEx each employ roughly 500,000 people worldwide
- Home Depot counts about 465,000 employees across more than 2,300 stores
- Target has roughly 440,000 employees and over 1,900 U.S. stores
- Kroger employs about 430,000 people across more than 2,700 supermarkets
- Berkshire Hathaway's roughly 396,000 workers sit across subsidiaries including BNSF, Geico and Precision Castparts
- Starbucks employs roughly 380,000 people, mostly in company-operated cafes
- CVS Health has about 300,000 employees across roughly 9,000 retail locations, Aetna and Oak Street Health
- The ten companies together employ roughly seven million people worldwide
Entities
Artists
- Jeff Bezos
- Warren Buffett
- Greg Abel
Institutions
- Fortune 500
- Walmart
- Sam's Club
- Walmart GoLocal
- Amazon
- Amazon Web Services
- Amazon Labor Union
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- UPS
- FedEx
- FedEx Express
- FedEx Ground
- FedEx Freight
- Home Depot
- SRS Distribution
- Target
- Shipt
- Kroger
- Ralphs
- Fred Meyer
- Harris Teeter
- King Soopers
- QFC
- Albertsons
- Federal Trade Commission
- United Food and Commercial Workers
- Ocado
- Berkshire Hathaway
- BNSF
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe
- Geico
- Precision Castparts
- Shaw Industries
- Berkshire Hathaway Energy
- Nebraska Furniture Mart
- Starbucks
- Starbucks Workers United
- Arizona State University
- McDonald's
- Costco
- CVS Health
- Aetna
- Caremark
- MinuteClinic
- Oak Street Health
- Quartz
Locations
- United States
- Mexico
- Canada
- China
- India
- Seattle
- Arlington
- Virginia
- Austin
- New York
- Staten Island
- California
- Omaha
- Memphis
- Memphis International Airport
- Minneapolis
- Buffalo
Sources
- Quartz —