Record revenues. Record profits. Record revenue per employee. The Fortune 500 is richer than ever—and employing fewer people

Up and to the right: that’s the story of nearly all the collective data from the 2026 Fortune 500, which ranks the largest U.S. companies by revenue. Together, the companies generated record revenue of $21 trillion, up 5% from a year ago. Total profits ballooned 12% to $2.1 trillion, and overall market cap surged 19% to $55 trillion in a fiscal year fueled by outsize AI spending and hype. 

There’s one big exception. The Fortune 500’s total headcount decreased for the second straight year to 30.5 million employees, down 1%. That’s a loss of 301,049 workers. Fortune 500 headcount has declined before, but since 1995, when the Fortune 500 incorporated service firms for the first time, a downward trend has only taken place during or after a recession.  

What’s behind the unusual drop? For 2026, the answer lies, in part, in who left the list.