Take 5: food security, cybersecurity jobs and AI chatbots

NH Business Review's biweekly snapshot of business and industry statistics

A new report from Feeding America, the 2026 Map the Meal Gap study, highlighted how child food insecurity increased by 6% year-over-year, climbing from 36,160 children in the 2025 report to 38,430 this year. Latest data also shows that 11.2% of all New Hampshire residents lack consistent access to adequate food, up from 10.7% in the previous report. Coos County is marked as the region where child food insecurity is the highest (22.1%), with overall food insecurity being experienced highest overall in Sullivan County (12.3%).

THE Cybersecurity Jobs Report from CyberSN found that, between January and September 2026, there were 235,786 cybersecurity job postings in the U.S., down 26.4% from 320,210 in the same months of 2025. The defense sector makes up 41.5% of job postings, with 52.6% of the postings coming from companies with 1,000 or fewer employees.

A recent survey from Answering Service Care surveyed 2,003 U.S. consumers and 252 U.S. business owners to find out how both parties feel about AI’s role in customer service. The study found that 67% of Americans want to speak to a human for anything important, with nearly half (47%) stating they strongly prefer a person. When it comes to routine calls, 36% of Americans are comfortable letting AI handle these conversations.

IN a new Pew Research Center survey, men report using AI chatbots more regularly (27%) than women (20%) and are more likely to turn to them for a variety of things, including work. Forty-five percent of men were cited as mostly using AI chatbots to search for information, versus 39% of women who performed the same task.

ACCORDING to Monster’s Job Security Report, more than half of U.S. workers (54%) say they would accept a pay cut in exchange for greater job security, while 61% would be willing to give up at least one aspect of their compensation or workplace experience for more stability. Twenty-six percent would accept reduced bonuses or incentives, 26% would give up workplace perks or benefits, 23% would sacrifice workplace flexibility, and 17% would accept higher health insurance costs in exchange for greater job security.