Labor Day 2026: Notable Highlights About the City of Virginia Beach’s Workforce

This Labor Day, we celebrate the work of City of Virginia Beach employees and the services they provide to the residents and visitors of the largest municipality in the state of Virginia.

City Workforce Stats

Helpful Connections

Emergency Communications & Citizen Services
Emergency Communications & Citizen Services (ECCS) is home to the City’s 911 Operations Center, where call takers answered 578,766 calls for service in 2025. The department also runs VB311, helping residents and visitors find answers fast. Last year, VB311 handled 103,319 questions by phone, email and chat, including 66,618 calls placed directly to the service.  

Housing & Neighborhood Preservation
Housing & Neighborhood Preservation continued its work to support safe and stable homes across the city. In 2025, the department connected more than 2,200 low-income households with affordable rental housing through federal and state programs.

Its Homeless Services Division at the Housing Resource Center prevented 150 households from experiencing homelessness. Three members of its Homeless Outreach Team served 354 individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness by offering connections to shelter, housing and resources in the community.  

The Housing Development Division also assisted 26 low- and moderate-income homeowners with critical home rehabilitation to remove health and safety hazards, bring homes up to code and improve accessibility. Projects completed in fiscal year 2026 included new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, roof and exterior door replacements and the installation of accessible bathrooms and ramps.  

Taking Care of Home

Public Works
Among its many tasks in FY 2026, the Public Works Department worked to maintain the city’s streets and roads. Crews filled 14,985 potholes using 507 tons of asphalt. On average, that’s about 10 potholes filled per day, or roughly 1,249 each month.

Housing & Neighborhood Preservation
Housing & Neighborhood Preservation’s Code Enforcement team works to ensure residential and commercial properties are safe and properly maintained. In FY 2026, 20 code inspectors investigated 10,172 complaints, mitigated 106 cases of graffiti, cited 3,777 cases of overgrown grass and weeds and addressed more than 26,000 code violations citywide. 

Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center
Employees at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center care for more than 1,000 animals representing over 250 species, from owls and sharks to Komodo dragons.

This summer, staff monitored and collected data on 75 osprey nests along the Lynnhaven River to help scientists better understand the health of local waterways and fish populations.  

The Aquarium’s Stranding Response Program has also been busy, responding to 78 sea turtles and 33 marine mammals so far this year. The team extends its thanks to community members who called the hotline to report sick, injured or deceased animals on local beaches.  

In addition to its animal care and research efforts, the Virginia Aquarium worked with residents throughout the past year to collect more than 2,000 pounds of trash during community cleanup events.  

Keeping It Green  

Several departments worked throughout the year to maintain clean, green spaces and neighborhoods across Virginia Beach. Waste and energy management play an important role in these efforts.  

Public Works
In FY 2025-26, the City Landfill team managed 28,969 tons of residential waste. Here’s a breakdown of the recycled materials we’re grateful they handled:   

• Household batteries: 2,615 pounds 
• Fluorescent lights: 2,475 pounds 
• Household hazardous waste: 30,110 pounds 
• Electronics: 78,201 pounds 
• Used oil: 14,519 gallons 
• Used antifreeze: 2,422 gallons 
• Propane: 1,224 tanks 
• Lead acid batteries: 13,822 pounds 
• Refrigerant: 162 pounds 
• Cooking oil: 3,650 gallons 
• Metal: 2,900,187 pounds 

Convention & Visitors Bureau
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Virginia Beach Convention Center (VBCC). Since opening, the VBCC team has welcomed nearly 10 million guests and hosted more than 260 graduations and over 250 weddings, along with memorials and community events. 

The VBCC continues to operate with strong LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Virginia Green standards, with best environmental practices, such as hosting green meetings and energy efficiency.

In 2025, the center recycled 28 tons of materials, composted 15 tons of organic waste, collected 357 gallons of cooking oil for biofuel and donated 8.55 tons of food to the Southeastern Virginia and Eastern Shore Foodbank. VBCC also upgraded 300 lighting fixtures to energy‑efficient LEDs, installed 16 stations for refilling water bottles and added 40 recycling stations throughout the facility.  

Building Fun Experiences

Public Library
Last year, the Virginia Beach Public Library (VBPL) welcomed 80,821 active users, issued 42,215 new library cards and circulated 1,692,272 physical items. Staff also hosted 7,165 programs and outreach events, drawing a total of 124,355 attendees.

To help make materials even more accessible, the VBPL Bookmobile traveled 464 miles throughout the community. Staff distributed nearly 2,000 books through circulation and giveaways.

Cultural Affairs
In 2025, the Cultural Affairs Department employee team welcomed 9,002 visitors to tours of historic homes, including two standout VA250 events, “History Lunch and Learn: General Lafayette Then and Now,” and “Fashion & LiberTea,” which drew 120 attendees. Overall, Cultural Affairs hosted 95 events and sponsored many more across the city.

The department also awarded 84 grants totaling $989,916, including 35 Arts & Humanities Commission grants, 12 Creative Neighborhoods Grants, 33 Individual Artists Support Grants and four Performing Arts Partnership Grants. 

Parks & Recreation
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation’s (VBPR) staff of 519 full-time employees, 1,066 part-time staff and 11 interns provide year-round programs and maintain recreation sites throughout the city. The department welcomed 1.7 million visitors to Mount Trashmore Park and recorded 1.83 million recreation center member scans. 

Outdoor amenities stayed busy too, with 17,731 boat launches, 2,285 shelter rentals and 2,455 kayak rentals. Instructor-led programs drew strong participation, including nearly 219,000 fitness class attendees and thousands more in personal training, out-of-school time programs and therapeutic recreation. 

Ages & Stages   

A City initiative to help residents discover programs, assistance, resources and special events for all ages now lists more than 90 offerings across 30 departments.   

The new webpage brings together City offerings in one easy-to-search location and offers tailored email newsletters for children and families, teens, adults and seniors.  

To learn more about the work underway at the City of Virginia Beach, sign up to receive the weekly Be in the Know Newsletter.   

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

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