Maryland recently ranked 49th in the nation for its economy and 36th overall in CNBC’s 2026 America’s Top States for Business rankings. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce also noted that the state has fallen in the broader ranking every year since 2023.
For Anne Arundel County job seekers, those numbers may feel less abstract when viewed alongside recent local layoffs and closures.
Maryland’s 2026 Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) and worker-dislocation log reports 71 affected positions at Leidos and 39 at Tyto Athene at Fort Meade. Other Anne Arundel notices include 156 positions at Amazon’s MAT8 facility in Glen Burnie, 93 at Catalent in Harmans, 55 at BAE Systems in Annapolis Junction and 35 at Breakthru Beverage Group in Linthicum Heights.
These notices span government contracting, biotechnology, distribution, logistics and technology. WARN figures do not capture every job loss, and they do not show whether every affected employee remains unemployed. Still, they illustrate why the local job market may feel uncertain even when statewide employment is rising.
Maryland added 5,100 jobs in May and 18,000 jobs during the first five months of 2026. However, growth was uneven. Accommodation and food services, administrative support and healthcare gained jobs, while professional and technical services, retail, finance, manufacturing and transportation lost positions.
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce captured the human impact behind economic rankings:
“Behind every ranking are thousands of quiet decisions by real people: whether to open a second location, add a shift or cut one, whether a new graduate builds a career here or three states south.”
The Chamber also wrote, “When a company expands, it hires; when it hires, families gain stability, young people find a reason to stay, and communities grow stronger.”
What Anne Arundel Job Seekers Can Do Now
Do not wait for a layoff notice or severance period to begin preparing. Update your résumé, LinkedIn profile and references now. Identify transferable skills such as project management, cybersecurity, logistics, operations, customer service and technical support.
Do not wait for a layoff notice or severance period to begin preparing. Update your résumé, LinkedIn profile and references now. Identify transferable skills such as project management, cybersecurity, logistics, operations, customer service and technical support.
It may also be helpful to widen your search beyond your former employer’s industry. A cooling sector does not mean your skills are no longer valuable.
Interested in Health Services? The Anne Arundel County Department of Health is hiring for School Health Services. Check out their upcoming hiring event, July 27, 2026
For current local openings and hiring updates, visit Annapolis Moms Media Job Connect and subscribe to the Job Connect newsletter.
Sources
- Maryland Chamber of Commerce. “It’s Never Just One Thing: What Maryland’s Business Rankings Are Really Telling Us.” July 15, 2026.
- Maryland Department of Labor. “2026 WARN and Other Worker Dislocation Notices.” Accessed July 2026.
- Maryland Department of Labor. “Maryland Employment Rose by 5,100 Jobs in May.” June 23, 2026.
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