Maryland launches public dashboard tracking AI hiring and job-loss risks

Maryland has put AI’s economic opportunities and risks in one public dashboard—but its hiring figures and job-loss forecasts measure different things. The Office of the Comptroller launched the Maryland AI Economic Impact Tracker on November 5, 2026, giving lawmakers, researchers and residents a shared resource for assessing changes to work and business.

The tracker combines government information, university research and private-sector analysis. Its scope includes job creation, potential job losses and business growth, alongside possible pressures on tax revenues and public budgets. That puts workforce changes within the remit of the state’s fiscal officials, not just employers and people seeking work.

Maryland’s openings and exposure are different measures

Maryland recorded approximately 3,600 job postings requiring technical AI skills in 2026. These include work developing, operating and maintaining AI systems. Postings show employers seeking those skills; they do not count completed hires or establish how much total employment has grown.

The displacement side is a forecast. Research from Tufts University’s American AI Jobs Risk Index estimates that 7.2% of Maryland jobs could be lost to automation under its median adoption scenario. That would give Maryland the country’s third-highest projected rate. The estimate carries considerable uncertainty and depends on how quickly businesses adopt AI over the next several years.

National demand rises beside announced cuts

The tracker’s national hiring figures show 273,000 U.S. AI job postings during the first nine months of 2026—79% more than the total for all of 2025. AI roles accounted for 1.8% of all postings in the third quarter, according to the dashboard figures described by PYMNTS.

Those figures come from the University of Maryland–LinkUp AI Maps project. Its definition covers technical skills such as machine learning and model development. It excludes jobs requiring only chatbot use, as well as positions building or maintaining data centers. The count therefore captures a narrower category than every job involving AI.

On the other side, employers cited AI in 120,136 announced U.S. job cuts through September, roughly 21% of all announced cuts, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. These are employers’ stated reasons, not an independently verified count of positions eliminated solely by automation.

Fewer openings, not just fewer existing jobs

The tracker’s initial business-adoption evidence includes a Maryland survey of 276 senior decision-makers, predominantly at organizations already engaged with AI. It cannot establish a national adoption rate. Within that sample, 91% reported using AI, but only 32% described advanced uses involving core systems, automated processes or agents.

Respondents’ staffing expectations show why layoffs alone would miss part of the potential disruption. More anticipated reduced recruitment than the elimination of existing positions. These are expectations about how AI may change staffing, rather than a count of changes already made:

• 64% expected AI to expand what current employees could accomplish.
• 32% anticipated fewer replacement hires or slower recruitment.
• 4% anticipated eliminating existing positions.

Business measurement remains incomplete: the portal acknowledges limited evidence on integration, operational spending and realized productivity across industries and business sizes. The Comptroller’s Office plans quarterly dashboard updates and research briefs beginning in 2027. Those briefs will use economic models and different scenarios to examine employment, business activity and government finances, extending the tracker’s focus from workplace changes to their possible budget effects.