An Anne Arundel County mother of two young kids thought she would have a long career as a communications specialist with USAID.

The Trump administration had other plans — and now Annie Leverich is building her own small business, First Light Coffee.

“It’s a pivot that I have always wanted to try and it’s not an opportunity that I would have pursued on my own,” Leverich said.

Tatyana Padro Miguel, a former federal government contractor, said she’d enrolled in training to become a certified nursing assistant as she pondered her next move in a tough job market.

This has been a big year for job changes.

Maryland is down more than 15,000 federal jobs this year, and the economy is roiling from increased tariffs and other crosscurrents, such as the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.

Have you made a job change — either by choice or by necessity — this year that you’d like to share?