Knowing the number of employees a company has can provide useful insights into the size and scope of the business. Here are some tips on finding this information for both public and private companies.
Check the company’s website
Many companies will list the number of employees or team members on the “About Us”, “Careers”, or “Culture” sections of their website. This is often found in summaries about the company history, mission, values, and work environment. For example, a “Facts & Figures” or “By the Numbers” page may give statistics on global and country-specific headcounts.
Keep an eye out for phrases like “our team of 500 employees worldwide” or “we’ve grown from 15 to 50 team members in the past year”.Annual reports published online may also cite the current worldwide or full-time employee count. Even descriptions of company perks can give clues, such as “We offer all 35,000 of our employees free lunches”.
Of course, website information may not always be up to date. But it can provide a good baseline figure to start with.
Search the company’s LinkedIn page
Many companies showcase pages on LinkedIn to highlight their brands as employers. Company pages will often list the current headcount range under the “Company Size” tab. This is self-reported by the company, so offers another data point to compare against.
Even without a specific headcount figure, you can scan the employees listed as working for that company on LinkedIn. Sort profiles by recency and location to gauge how many current active employees they may have.
Look up their SEC filings
For publicly traded companies in the United States, Form 10-K annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will disclose the number of full-time and/or part-time employees. There may also be breakdowns on domestic vs international or segment-specific employee counts.
Search for the company’s latest 10-K filing on the SEC’s EDGAR website. The “Employees” section or table should contain yearly headcount numbers going back 2-3 years. This gives helpful context on employee growth trends as well.
Search independent business databases
Sites like Owler, ZoomInfo and DueDil offer employee count estimates and ranges for both public and private companies. They compile data from a variety of sources such as news articles, press releases, social media, surveys, and predictive models.
For example, here are sample entries from Owler for employee numbers at well-known companies:
Company | Employees |
---|---|
Apple | 154,000 |
119,000 | |
Microsoft | 181,000 |
While these may not be exact, they can provide a good approximation of company size when other public data isn’t available.
Use LinkedIn’s Company Insights
LinkedIn offers Company Page Insights as part of its Recruiter product. This gives data on total employee headcount, locations, functions, seniority levels, schools attended, and more.
The employee number shown is based on the profiles of LinkedIn members who have identified that company as their employer. So it may undercount if employees aren’t on LinkedIn or haven’t fully completed their profiles.
If you have a Recruiter account, you can access these insights for any company to obtain the employee data.
Look up industry research reports
Analyst firms like IBISWorld, Gartner and Forrester often publish detailed industry research reports. These will analyze the major players in an industry and may cite number of employees for key companies based on available data and estimates.
Search for an industry report related to the company – for example “Software Industry Report 2022”. Then scan the sections on major vendors to see if it lists approximate employee counts in company overviews and profiles.
Search news articles and press releases
Company milestones like acquisitions, expansions, or growth numbers are frequently covered by business news sites. Scanning the latest articles from sites like Business Insider and Yahoo Finance may reveal employee headcount numbers reported in interviews or corporate announcements.
Similarly, search the company’s press release archives for phrases like “grew to”, “now employs”, “expanded to”, or “team of”. Press releases could mention specific employee count milestones when celebrating new office openings or hiring targets met.
Look for shareholder and industry presentations
Public companies will often cite employee stats in shareholder presentations like quarterly earnings slides. These highlight how the company has been executing on its growth strategy. Competitor analysis slides may also list available data on number of employees across major players in the industry.
Search the company’s investor relations website or online archives for terms like “headcount” or “employee growth”. Non-public companies may also share similar data at industry conferences and events.
Ask the company directly
If you still can’t find an authoritative employee count through the above tactics, consider reaching out to the company directly. Call or email the PR, communications, or HR department to inquire about current worldwide or country-specific employee numbers that they can confirm on record.
While they may not always disclose specifics, some may provide you with a rounded approximation or general range. Make sure to explain why you are requesting the data and note if it is on behalf of an organization or for your own personal research purposes.
Estimate based on glassdoor data
Glassdoor lets employees anonymously share salary details and reviews for companies. While it may not have comprehensive coverage, it can be useful for ballpark estimates if other information isn’t available.
Search for the company on Glassdoor and scroll down to see the total number of employee reviews. Keep in mind this is not a complete count, as only a subset of employees go onto the site to post reviews. But you can use it along with the company’s locations and average employee distribution across departments to approximate a range.
Search local business registers
Business registers like Registry of Companies in Singapore and EDGE in Malaysia require companies to file details like paid-up capital, number of employees, and financial statements. This data is then made available through government open data initiatives or APIs.
For example, you could potentially look up annual employee counts for a specific company’s Singapore entity through accounting firm directories that compile data from ACRA filings.
Use Alexa Website Analytics
The Alexa Chrome extension provides website analytics including estimated visitors, pageviews and engagement stats. While not focused on employees, larger companies tend to have more website traffic.
So you can use Alexa traffic and engagement data to get a general sense of company size. Pair it with other details like industry, locations and revenue estimates to approximate employee count ranges.
Pro Tips
Here are some additional tips when researching a company’s number of employees:
- Look for multiple data sources to cross-verify ranges or estimates.
- Aim for latest current employee count, rather than outdated historical figures.
- Check if counts refer to only full-time or also include part-time and contractors.
- For global companies, look for breakdowns by country or region.
- For conglomerates, clarify if figure is for entire group or a specific division.
Conclusion
Finding out the number of employees for a company requires some detective work, especially for private businesses. But through various online information sources, business data providers, press announcements and direct inquiries, you can piece together an approximate range.
This can provide useful context on the company’s operating scale, growth trajectory, talent pool, and workplace culture. Just be sure to validate employee counts against multiple sources where possible.