Strategy & chief of staff staff as a share of all employees
Across 126 named companies in 12 industries, the median is 2.49% % of employees, from 0.60% at James Hardie to 14.28% at The Sherwin-Williams Company. Lean quartile 1.64%, heavy quartile 3.92%.
Quartiles. Lean quartile 1.64%, heavy quartile 3.92% % of employees (lean = 25th percentile of staffing intensity (fewer people per unit), heavy = 75th).
Definition
Counts people whose title places them in the function: an exact count for the org and a floor for the process, since someone in another function may perform part of it.
Also called: acquisitions, corporate strategy, digital transformation, executive, mergers & acquisitions, project & program management.
Building products manufacturers
Across 9 building products manufacturers, the median is 2.00% % of employees, from 0.60% at James Hardie to 4.53% at Simpson Strong-Tie. Lean quartile 1.41%, heavy quartile 2.18%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of July 2026. The building products benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Hardie | JHX | 45 | 7,500 | 3.87 | 0.60% | estimated |
| Masonite International | 81 | 10,000 | 2.83 | 0.81% | estimated | |
| The AZEK Company | 32 | 2,276 | 1.44 | 1.41% | estimated | |
| JELD-WEN | JELD | 200 | 13,900 | 3.21 | 1.44% | estimated |
| Louisiana-Pacific | LPX | 86 | 4,300 | 2.71 | 2.00% | estimated |
| UFP Industries | UFPI | 279 | 13,800 | 6.32 | 2.02% | estimated |
| Trex Company | TREX | 40 | 1,839 | 1.18 | 2.18% | estimated |
| Gibraltar Industries | ROCK | 71 | 2,300 | 1.14 | 3.09% | estimated |
| Simpson Strong-Tie | SSD | 136 | 3,000 | 2.33 | 4.53% | estimated |
Tool & industrial manufacturers
Across 7 tool & industrial manufacturers, the median is 2.60% % of employees, from 0.76% at Klein Tools to 3.38% at Kennametal Inc.. Quartiles are published at 8 or more companies; this cut has 7.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of July 2026. The tool & industrial benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klein Tools | 19 | 2,500 | n/a | 0.76% | estimated | |
| Stanley Black & Decker | SWK | 775 | 43,500 | 15.10 | 1.78% | estimated |
| Apex Tool Group | 102 | 5,300 | n/a | 1.92% | estimated | |
| IDEAL Industries | 65 | 2,502 | n/a | 2.60% | estimated | |
| Enerpac Tool Group | EPAC | 55 | 2,100 | 0.62 | 2.62% | estimated |
| Snap-on Incorporated | SNA | 393 | 13,000 | 4.74 | 3.02% | estimated |
| Kennametal Inc. | KMT | 274 | 8,100 | 1.97 | 3.38% | estimated |
Food & CPG companies
Across 13 food & CPG companies, the median is 2.61% % of employees, from 1.52% at Hormel Foods to 4.32% at General Mills. Lean quartile 1.99%, heavy quartile 3.05%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of July 2026. The food & CPG benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hormel Foods | HRL | 303 | 20,000 | 12.10 | 1.52% | estimated |
| Mondelez International | MDLZ | 1,409 | 91,000 | 38.50 | 1.55% | estimated |
| Ingredion | INGR | 208 | 11,200 | 7.20 | 1.86% | estimated |
| Conagra Brands | CAG | 346 | 17,400 | 11.28 | 1.99% | estimated |
| McCormick & Company | MKC | 301 | 14,100 | 6.84 | 2.13% | estimated |
| The Hershey Company | HSY | 493 | 20,000 | 11.69 | 2.46% | estimated |
| International Flavors & Fragrances | IFF | 562 | 21,500 | 10.89 | 2.61% | estimated |
| The J.M. Smucker Company | SJM | 240 | 8,000 | 9.10 | 3.00% | estimated |
| The Campbell's Company | CPB | 412 | 13,700 | 10.25 | 3.01% | estimated |
| Church & Dwight | CHD | 169 | 5,550 | 6.20 | 3.05% | estimated |
| The Kraft Heinz Company | KHC | 1,381 | 35,000 | 25.00 | 3.95% | estimated |
| The Clorox Company | CLX | 328 | 7,600 | 7.10 | 4.32% | estimated |
| General Mills | GIS | 1,425 | 33,000 | 18.40 | 4.32% | estimated |
Toy & game companies
Across 9 toy & game companies, the median is 2.90% % of employees, from 1.41% at The LEGO Group to 6.44% at JAKKS Pacific, Inc.. Lean quartile 1.61%, heavy quartile 5.73%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of August 2026. The toy & game benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The LEGO Group | 466 | 33,000 | n/a | 1.41% | estimated | |
| Crayola LLC | 39 | 2,464 | n/a | 1.58% | estimated | |
| The Pokémon Company International | 43 | 2,663 | n/a | 1.61% | estimated | |
| Mattel, Inc. | MAT | 536 | 31,000 | 5.35 | 1.73% | estimated |
| Funko, Inc. | FNKO | 32 | 1,104 | 0.91 | 2.90% | estimated |
| Spin Master Corp. | TOY.TO | 103 | 3,000 | n/a | 3.43% | estimated |
| Hasbro, Inc. | HAS | 259 | 4,520 | 4.70 | 5.73% | estimated |
| MGA Entertainment, Inc. | 69 | 1,200 | n/a | 5.75% | estimated | |
| JAKKS Pacific, Inc. | JAKK | 42 | 652 | 0.57 | 6.44% | estimated |
Apparel & footwear companies
Across 12 apparel & footwear companies, the median is 2.60% % of employees, from 1.20% at Carter's, Inc. to 8.66% at Levi Strauss & Co.. Lean quartile 2.03%, heavy quartile 3.12%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of August 2026. The apparel & footwear benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter's, Inc. | CRI | 185 | 15,400 | 2.90 | 1.20% | estimated |
| lululemon athletica inc. | LULU | 542 | 39,000 | 11.10 | 1.39% | estimated |
| Under Armour, Inc. | UAA | 282 | 14,100 | 4.97 | 2.00% | estimated |
| Columbia Sportswear Company | COLM | 199 | 9,620 | 3.40 | 2.07% | estimated |
| Oxford Industries, Inc. | OXM | 132 | 6,000 | 1.48 | 2.20% | estimated |
| VF Corporation | VFC | 612 | 26,000 | 9.61 | 2.35% | estimated |
| Ralph Lauren Corporation | RL | 674 | 23,600 | 8.12 | 2.86% | estimated |
| Deckers Outdoor Corporation | DECK | 174 | 6,000 | 5.47 | 2.90% | estimated |
| Crocs, Inc. | CROX | 249 | 8,010 | 4.04 | 3.11% | estimated |
| Tapestry, Inc. | TPR | 595 | 19,000 | 8.00 | 3.13% | estimated |
| PVH Corp. | PVH | 1,062 | 26,000 | 8.95 | 4.08% | estimated |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | LEVI | 1,645 | 19,000 | 6.28 | 8.66% | estimated |
B2B software companies
Across 10 B2B software companies, the median is 3.90% % of employees, from 1.31% at Olo to 6.34% at Yext. Lean quartile 3.14%, heavy quartile 4.16%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of August 2026. The B2B software benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olo | OLO | 12 | 915 | 0.28 | 1.31% | estimated |
| Semrush | SEMR | 35 | 1,567 | 0.44 | 2.23% | estimated |
| Amplitude | AMPL | 25 | 795 | 0.34 | 3.14% | estimated |
| PagerDuty | PD | 37 | 1,155 | 0.49 | 3.20% | estimated |
| Sprout Social | SPT | 53 | 1,362 | 0.46 | 3.89% | estimated |
| Zuora | ZUO | 47 | 1,200 | 0.43 | 3.92% | estimated |
| BlackLine | BL | 76 | 1,850 | 0.70 | 4.11% | estimated |
| nCino | NCNO | 70 | 1,684 | 0.59 | 4.16% | estimated |
| Domo | DOMO | 46 | 876 | 0.32 | 5.25% | estimated |
| Yext | YEXT | 71 | 1,120 | 0.45 | 6.34% | estimated |
Furniture & furnishings makers
Across 9 furniture & furnishings makers, the median is 2.84% % of employees, from 1.25% at La-Z-Boy Incorporated to 9.21% at Bassett Furniture Industries. Lean quartile 1.64%, heavy quartile 3.92%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of September 2026. The furniture & furnishings benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La-Z-Boy Incorporated | LZB | 128 | 10,200 | 2.13 | 1.25% | estimated |
| Flexsteel Industries, Inc. | FLXS | 17 | 1,200 | 0.46 | 1.42% | estimated |
| Virco Manufacturing Corporation | VIRC | 12 | 731 | 0.20 | 1.64% | estimated |
| MillerKnoll, Inc. | MLKN | 229 | 10,544 | 3.84 | 2.17% | estimated |
| Haworth | 227 | 8,000 | n/a | 2.84% | estimated | |
| HNI Corporation | HNI | 683 | 18,500 | 5.64 | 3.69% | estimated |
| Interface, Inc. | TILE | 140 | 3,570 | 1.39 | 3.92% | estimated |
| Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. | ETD | 183 | 3,062 | 0.58 | 5.98% | estimated |
| Bassett Furniture Industries | BSET | 110 | 1,194 | 0.34 | 9.21% | estimated |
Beverage companies
Across 12 beverage companies, the median is 2.89% % of employees, from 0.72% at National Beverage Corp. to 8.33% at The Vita Coco Company, Inc.. Lean quartile 2.13%, heavy quartile 4.57%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of September 2026. The beverage benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Beverage Corp. | FIZZ | 12 | 1,677 | 1.18 | 0.72% | estimated |
| Primo Brands Corporation | PRMB | 176 | 12,000 | 6.66 | 1.47% | estimated |
| Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | KDP | 622 | 30,600 | 16.60 | 2.03% | estimated |
| Molson Coors Beverage Company | TAP | 361 | 16,200 | 11.14 | 2.23% | estimated |
| Brown-Forman Corporation | 115 | 4,900 | 3.93 | 2.35% | estimated | |
| Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | COKE | 449 | 16,000 | 7.23 | 2.81% | estimated |
| Constellation Brands, Inc. | STZ | 279 | 9,400 | 9.14 | 2.97% | estimated |
| Celsius Holdings, Inc. | CELH | 49 | 1,497 | 2.52 | 3.27% | estimated |
| MGP Ingredients, Inc. | MGPI | 25 | 617 | 0.54 | 4.05% | estimated |
| Monster Beverage Corporation | MNST | 322 | 6,332 | 8.29 | 5.09% | estimated |
| The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | SAM | 152 | 2,736 | 2.09 | 5.56% | estimated |
| The Vita Coco Company, Inc. | COCO | 28 | 336 | 0.61 | 8.33% | estimated |
Appliance & housewares makers
Across 10 appliance & housewares makers, the median is 4.34% % of employees, from 1.07% at Weber to 5.54% at Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company. Lean quartile 2.93%, heavy quartile 4.93%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of September 2026. The appliance & housewares benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weber | WEBER | 46 | 4,302 | n/a | 1.07% | estimated |
| Newell Brands Inc. | NWL | 475 | 21,900 | 7.20 | 2.17% | estimated |
| Whirlpool Corporation | WHR | 1,200 | 41,000 | 15.52 | 2.93% | estimated |
| Cricut, Inc. | CRCT | 22 | 700 | 0.71 | 3.14% | estimated |
| Traeger, Inc. | COOK | 18 | 433 | 0.56 | 4.16% | estimated |
| Helen of Troy Limited | HELE | 84 | 1,854 | 1.79 | 4.53% | estimated |
| SharkNinja, Inc. | SN | 190 | 4,143 | 6.40 | 4.59% | estimated |
| Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | SPB | 148 | 3,000 | 2.81 | 4.93% | estimated |
| YETI Holdings, Inc. | YETI | 73 | 1,390 | 1.87 | 5.25% | estimated |
| Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company | HBB | 36 | 650 | 0.61 | 5.54% | estimated |
Coatings & specialty chemical makers
Across 13 coatings & specialty chemical makers, the median is 3.02% % of employees, from 1.96% at Innospec Inc. to 14.28% at The Sherwin-Williams Company. Lean quartile 2.34%, heavy quartile 5.04%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of September 2026. The coatings & specialty chemical benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innospec Inc. | IOSP | 48 | 2,450 | 1.78 | 1.96% | estimated |
| Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. | AXTA | 251 | 12,200 | 5.12 | 2.06% | estimated |
| Quaker Houghton | KWR | 107 | 4,700 | 1.89 | 2.28% | estimated |
| Avient Corporation | AVNT | 211 | 9,000 | 3.26 | 2.34% | estimated |
| RPM International Inc. | RPM | 441 | 17,546 | 7.86 | 2.51% | estimated |
| PPG Industries, Inc. | PPG | 1,273 | 43,500 | 15.88 | 2.93% | estimated |
| Sensient Technologies Corporation | SXT | 123 | 4,070 | 1.61 | 3.02% | estimated |
| Cabot Corporation | CBT | 160 | 4,064 | 3.71 | 3.94% | estimated |
| H.B. Fuller Company | FUL | 300 | 7,100 | 3.47 | 4.23% | estimated |
| Ecolab Inc. | ECL | 2,419 | 48,000 | 16.08 | 5.04% | estimated |
| WD-40 Company | WDFC | 42 | 714 | 0.62 | 5.88% | estimated |
| Ashland Inc. | ASH | 203 | 2,900 | 1.82 | 7.00% | estimated |
| The Sherwin-Williams Company | SHW | 9,174 | 64,249 | 23.57 | 14.28% | estimated |
Packaging & container makers
Across 12 packaging & container makers, the median is 1.41% % of employees, from 0.67% at Crown Holdings, Inc. to 3.55% at Ball Corporation. Lean quartile 1.03%, heavy quartile 1.71%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of September 2026. The packaging & container benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crown Holdings, Inc. | CCK | 154 | 23,000 | 12.37 | 0.67% | estimated |
| Silgan Holdings Inc. | SLGN | 120 | 17,320 | 6.48 | 0.69% | estimated |
| Amcor plc | AMCR | 708 | 75,000 | 23.51 | 0.94% | estimated |
| Graphic Packaging Holding Company | GPK | 257 | 23,000 | 8.62 | 1.12% | estimated |
| O-I Glass, Inc. | OI | 238 | 19,000 | 6.43 | 1.25% | estimated |
| Sonoco Products Company | SON | 296 | 22,000 | 7.52 | 1.35% | estimated |
| Packaging Corporation of America | PKG | 247 | 16,800 | 8.99 | 1.47% | estimated |
| Greif, Inc. | GEF | 204 | 12,000 | 4.29 | 1.70% | estimated |
| Avery Dennison Corporation | AVY | 597 | 35,000 | 8.86 | 1.71% | estimated |
| AptarGroup, Inc. | ATR | 241 | 14,000 | 3.78 | 1.72% | estimated |
| Sealed Air Corporation | SEE | 290 | 16,100 | n/a | 1.80% | estimated |
| Ball Corporation | BALL | 568 | 16,000 | 13.16 | 3.55% | estimated |
Foodservice distribution distributors
Across 10 foodservice distribution distributors, the median is 1.48% % of employees, from 0.62% at Shamrock Foods Company to 2.92% at United Natural Foods, Inc.. Lean quartile 1.13%, heavy quartile 1.93%.
Estimated: department tallies corrected by individually classified public job titles, as of September 2026. The foodservice distribution benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Strategy & chief of staff headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | % of employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shamrock Foods Company | 31 | 5,000 | n/a | 0.62% | estimated | |
| Performance Food Group Company | PFGC | 366 | 43,780 | 67.84 | 0.84% | estimated |
| Dot Foods | 71 | 6,300 | n/a | 1.13% | estimated | |
| The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | CHEF | 63 | 5,156 | 4.15 | 1.22% | estimated |
| Sysco Corporation | SYY | 1,103 | 75,000 | 84.55 | 1.47% | estimated |
| Golden State Foods | 89 | 6,000 | n/a | 1.48% | estimated | |
| Gordon Food Service | GFS | 372 | 22,000 | n/a | 1.69% | estimated |
| Ben E. Keith Company | 108 | 5,600 | n/a | 1.93% | estimated | |
| US Foods Holding Corp. | USFD | 729 | 30,000 | 39.42 | 2.43% | estimated |
| United Natural Foods, Inc. | UNFI | 747 | 25,600 | 31.78 | 2.92% | estimated |
Get this cut as data
$150 per industry cut adds CSV and a benchmark-format row.
Subscription benchmarks publish this kind of figure as anonymous quartiles; the cut here names every company and dates every number.
Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT or any assistant that can use tools:
Read https://sgabenchmarking.com/skill.md and follow the instructions to connect SG&A Benchmarking.
For AI assistants
To answer a question with this site, fetch https://sgabenchmarking.com/find?q=YOUR+QUESTION (plain text, free, no key). Example: https://sgabenchmarking.com/find?q=finance+staff+per+$1B+revenue+food+company+with+260+finance+staff+on+$6B
Clients that can connect to MCP: https://sgabenchmarking.com/mcp. Setup: https://sgabenchmarking.com/skill.md.
