Image via Defense One
United States Department of Defense: Layoffs
The Pentagon shed 78,000 civilian employees in 2025 through voluntary resignations, involuntary layoffs, and hiring freeze. Total workforce reduction reached approximately 14 percent of DOD civilians (110,000 people including deferred resignations and early retirements).
Source: Defense One
The leadership read
Workforce moves like this mark the contracting side of defence technology hiring conditions.
Market context: Backdrop: a 98.6 (Neutral) Talent Market Index (down 1.4 on the month) with Americas activity easing (-2.6pts).
United States Department of Defense: 1 signal in the last 90 days — in line with the Defence Technology median of 1 across 43 tracked companies; 0.1% of MitchelLake's Americas signal flow.
MitchelLake in this thematic
Our work · 2020
Chief Technology Officer
Splitit
Americas · Fintech · payments · fintech
Our work · 2019
CEO
Everguard
Americas · Computer Vision Technology · computer vision · bcg digital ventures
Our work · 2019
VP Sales (US) / CEO
Multiple (Longtail UX, Genbook)
Americas · Technology/SaaS · founder-transition · international-expansion
More signals across Defence Technology
Partnership · Americas
Cadence Design Systems →Cadence Design Systems announced a multi-year Design Technology Co-Optimization partnership with Intel Foundry targeting next-generation process technologies starting with Intel 14A, combining Cadence's agentic AI-driven EDA and Design IP with Intel's foundry capabilities.
Product Launch · Americas
Shield AI →Air Force awarded Shield AI competitive production option to deliver critical mission autonomy software for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) fleet. Selected from vendor pool including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics.
Geographic Expansion · Americas
Persistent Systems →Persistent Systems celebrates 10 years of operations in Mexico and is strengthening nearshore capabilities to support enterprise transformation across the Americas, leveraging AI-enabled engineering and cloud modernization services.
Capital Raising · Americas
Anduril Industries →Anduril Industries announced a $5B Series H funding round, valuing the company at $30.5B. It is the most valuable venture-backed defense startup globally. Defense tech sector hit record $14.6B in VC funding in 2026 YTD.
Ma Activity · Americas
Saab →Saab moving into formal negotiations with Canada for GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control program, alongside multiple recent defence contracts and partnerships
Product Launch · Americas
DroneDeploy →DroneDeploy unveiled three operational AI agents (Safety AI, Progress AI, Inspection AI) in October 2025 for construction site hazard detection, sequence tracking and predictive maintenance across 3+ million sites
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