Leidos to Lay Off 71 Workers at Fort Meade Facility in Maryland

Defense contractor Leidos filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with Maryland authorities covering 71 employees at its Fort Meade facility, with separations set to take effect May 31, 2026.

The notice, dated April 2, identifies the affected site at 6910 Cooper Avenue inside the Fort Meade complex and classifies the action as a mass layoff with no recall. That designation means the 71 positions are not expected to return, distinguishing the cuts from temporary furloughs or project-based pauses. Under federal law, the filing provides the statutory advance notice required before large-scale workforce reductions take effect.

The notice did not specify operational reasons for the cuts. WARN filings of this type sometimes reflect contract changes, program transitions, facility consolidations, or work reassignments, though Leidos has not publicly detailed the drivers behind this particular action.

Fort Meade is a large Army installation in Anne Arundel County and home to multiple federal commands and intelligence units. Defense contractors operating on or near the base frequently employ workers with specialized security clearances tied to specific government programs, and the concentration of all 71 cuts at this single installation gives the filing an outsized significance relative to its raw number. For cleared personnel, job searches carry particular challenges, though adjacent contractors and federal agencies sometimes move quickly to absorb experienced workers from neighboring programs.

Leidos is one of the largest government-services and defense contractors in the National Capital Region. While 71 positions represent a fraction of the company's total workforce, the no-recall classification leaves no ambiguity about the permanence of the separations. Under WARN Act obligations, Leidos must notify state rapid-response programs and cooperate with workforce agencies providing reemployment services to affected employees.

The filing arrived amid a broader pattern of defense contracting workforce reductions, as prime contractors across the sector have reassessed programs, margins, and resourcing through the first months of 2026. Local officials and federal contracting partners will monitor whether the reductions at 6910 Cooper Avenue affect deliverables or contract performance tied to the Fort Meade mission.