Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway grew its workforce by 3% last year — but still employs fewer people than in 2017

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway grew its workforce by 3% to 372,000 people in 2021.
• The investor's company slashed headcount by 8% to 360,000 people in 2020, as the pandemic raged.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has grown its workforce by 3% over the past year, suggesting it's rebounding from the pandemic, and indicating the US economy is on the mend.

The famed investor's company employs about 372,000 people, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. It grew its workforce from around 368,000 to nearly 392,000 between 2017 and 2019, then cut headcount by 8% to 360,000 over the next 12 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the US economy and sparked a nationwide lockdown.

Buffett's conglomerate ranks among the 10 largest employers in the nation, and operates in a swath of industries including insurance, energy, manufacturing, services, retail, and transportation. Its massive scale and broad range of businesses make it a useful bellwether for the wider US economy.

Many of Berkshire's subsidiaries were hit hard by the pandemic, spurring them to make steep cuts to their workforces in 2020. Precision Castparts, which makes aerospace parts, reduced its headcount by 40%, or around 13,500 people. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, a railroad operator, shrunk its labor force by 14%, or about 5,500 people.

More broadly, Buffett's conglomerate slashed headcount by 13% in its services and retailing division, 9% in its manufacturing business, and 7% in its railroad, utility, and energy segment. Its insurance operation bucked the trend, increasing its workforce as Geico added nearly 700 people to its ranks.

Berkshire is expected to update its employment figures in its next annual report, slated for publication on February 26. Investors will be looking to see whether it has closed any subsidiaries, as Charlie Munger, Buffett's business partner, predicted a handful of bad businesses wouldn't reopen after they were shut down by the pandemic.

Here's a chart showing how the size of Berkshire's workforce has changed in recent years: