Labor Day 2024: 10 Surprising Facts About the City of Virginia Beach’s Workforce

The City of Virginia Beach has more than 7,500 workers in 35 departments. Serving the largest municipality in Virginia, these employees provide essential services and coordinate sought-after programs for 455,000 residents and some 7 million visitors per year. 

In honor of Labor Day, here’s a closer look at some of the work City employees do every day to serve the community.  

1. Employees in the Agriculture Department operate the Virginia Beach Farmers Market. As part of their efforts to attract more customers to the businesses on site, staff coordinate eight special events per year and a free live concert every Friday night, 7-10 p.m., from April to the end of October.  
   
2. In addition to preserving accurate legislative historical records for Virginia Beach’s City Council, the City Clerk’s Office is also a full-service passport acceptance facility. Last year, employees in this office processed around 3,200 passports at City Hall. Appointments can be made by calling 757-385-4303.  
   
   
3. The Cultural Affairs Department operates four historic houses/museums, such as the Thoroughgood House, one of the oldest surviving Colonial homes in Virginia Beach (built circa 1719). Museum employees lead free tours and offer unique programming that help the history of these properties come alive. Last year, they welcomed more than 6,300 visitors. 
   
4. Information Technology employees on the Center for Geospatial Information Services (CGIS) Mapping Team update and maintain official maps used by the City for various reasons. The team maintains GIS data used to make paper and online maps, which include 231,000 buildings, 212,000 addresses, 25,000 street segments and 142,000 parcels of land. 
   
   
5. Animal Services is a division of the Virginia Beach Police Department and operates out of the Virginia Beach Animal Care & Adoption Center. Last year, these employees cared for more than 6,000 animals and responded to over 16,000 animal-related calls for service. In addition to handling animal adoptions, Animal Services staff also reunite lost pets with their owners.
   
6. The Department of Housing & Neighborhood Development has a team of 24 code inspectors who make sure homes and businesses are properly maintained. Last year, the Code Enforcement team investigated 9,000 complaints, mitigated 300 cases of graffiti, cited 5,000 cases of overgrown grass and weeds, and addressed more than 30,000 code violations. 
   
   
7. The Materials Management team, based at the Central Library, is responsible for ordering, cataloging and distributing the half a million physical items in the Virginia Beach Public Library’s collection. They also oversee an extensive digital collection of books, audiobooks and classes that anyone with a VB library card can access 24/7.
   
8. To help protect City resources and funds, employees in the City Auditor’s Office oversee the Fraud, Waste and Abuse Prevention Program. Suspected fraud, waste or abuse of City resources can be reported by calling 757-468-3330 (caller ID is turned off for anonymity) or sending an email to ReportVBFraud@vbgov.com. 
   
   
9. Employees at the Virginia Aquarium care for over 1,000 animals representing more than 250 species. A new discount for Virginia Beach residents offers $20 off any annual membership price. 
   
10. Emergency Communications and Citizens Services (ECCS) is home to the 9-1-1 Operations Center. Last year, 9-1-1 call takers answered more than 427,000 calls for service. The department also operates VB311 where 3-1-1 employees fielded over 124,000 questions from residents and visitors via phone, email and chat. 
    

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Find YOUR best job yet at virginiabeach.gov/careers.