A defense contractor with deep roots in Maryland's intelligence corridor is cutting more than 380 jobs at its Hanover site, with the first wave of separations set to take effect October 31 and a second round following two weeks later. Amentum filed two notices with the Maryland Department of Labor on August 18, listing 317 facilities support services workers affected in the first filing and 65 engineering services workers in the second, tied to an address at 7710 Milestone Parkway in Anne Arundel County.
The layoffs were triggered by the transition of certain intelligence contracts, according to reporting by The Baltimore Banner. The first notice affects 317 workers effective October 31, while the second will impact 65 workers in November, with both filings drawing on Maryland Department of Labor records logged August 18. Amentum did not respond to a question about the listed address, which the Banner's reporting notes is also home to a Wawa gas station and convenience store — raising questions about exactly where the affected employees have been working.
A Pattern Emerging Across the County's Defense Corridor
Amentum is not the only federal contractor shedding jobs in Anne Arundel County this year. Two other federal government contracting firms in the county announced layoffs earlier in 2026, according to the Banner's reporting. Just months earlier, Leidos filed a state WARN notice for 71 mass layoffs at its Cooper Avenue facility inside the Fort Meade complex, with those separations taking effect May 31, as Hoodline previously reported.
Amentum itself had already trimmed its Maryland headcount before the Hanover cuts. Maryland Department of Labor WARN logs recorded two earlier reductions from the company on March 9, affecting 9 workers in Fort Washington and 27 workers in Suitland, both classified as mass layoffs under state dislocation tracking. The company maintains a wide footprint across the state, with offices in Annapolis Junction, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and Germantown in addition to its Hanover site.
Why West Anne Arundel County Feels It Most
The concentration of contractor layoffs in this stretch of Anne Arundel County is tied to its proximity to Fort George G. Meade, Maryland's largest employer with more than 56,000 military, civilian, and contractor personnel spread across 116 partner organizations, according to Hogan Companies. The installation hosts the National Security Agency, U.S. Cyber Command, and the Defense Information Systems Agency, making West Anne Arundel County unusually dependent on intelligence and defense contract flows.
Federal policy shifts are adding pressure on top of the contract transitions cited in Hanover. Washington Technology reported that federal insourcing initiatives by NASA are projected to cut Amentum's fiscal year 2027 top-line revenue by 3%, as the space agency moves to have civil servants handle technical and operational roles once awarded to contractors. Amentum is known for its work with both NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense, and the company also does work for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Legal Scrutiny Over Notice Requirements
The law firm Strauss Borrelli PLLC announced on Thursday an investigation into whether Amentum provided adequate 60-day written notice under the federal WARN Act ahead of the Hanover cuts. Failure to give proper notice can expose an employer to liability for 60 days of back pay and benefits for affected workers.
Maryland's own Mini-WARN Act, formally called the Economic Stabilization Act, adds another layer of state-level exposure. Final regulations under that law took effect in October 2025, requiring employers with 50 or more workers to give 60 days' advance written notice for reductions affecting at least 15 workers or 25% of staff, according to Ogletree Deakins. Violations can carry civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day.
A Corporate Giant With Deep Roots in Intelligence Work
Amentum describes itself as an engineering and technology firm primarily serving the federal government, and the Banner's reporting identifies it as the second-largest services provider to the federal government. The company is based in Chantilly, Virginia, and was originally started as a 2020 spinoff of AECOM, which is based in Dallas, Texas.
Amentum's current form traces back to a late-2024 merger with the cyber and intelligence business of Jacobs Solutions, a deal that closed on September 27, 2024, creating a combined company that began trading on the NYSE under ticker AMTM three days later, per Jacobs Solutions. That combined entity had more than 53,000 employees worldwide at the time of the merger. Jacobs had acquired KeyW, once a prominent intelligence contractor in Anne Arundel County, back in 2019 — folding another local defense-industry name into what eventually became Amentum.
Despite the Hanover cuts, Amentum remains an enterprise-scale operation. PitchBook data from August 21 shows the company generated $14.1 billion in trailing twelve-month revenue while holding a contract backlog of $47.8 billion as of mid-2026, spanning defense, intelligence, energy, and space markets. The company has also been expanding into commercial nuclear energy, announcing a partnership with Westinghouse earlier this month to help deliver AP1000 reactors and license AP300 modular reactors, as Hoodline reported earlier this month.
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