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Virginia jobs and job market: layoffs, colleges and workforce help

Virginia’s unemployment rate is 3.6%. 13,519 open professional jobs are listed here. Employers filed 73 layoff notices in the last 12 months. Choose a county or city for the same picture closer to home.

Independent page. Not from or affiliated with the State of Virginia.

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Virginia economy

  • 3.6%

    unemployment, Sep 2026

    3.4% the month before

  • 4,461,175

    in the labor force

    Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

  • 8,657,499

    people in Virginia

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau

  • $90,974

    median household income

    Source: Census ACS

  • 48%

    of workers in white-collar occupations

    Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Virginia outlook: Steady

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

  • Private-sector jobs up 3.7% from 2022 to 2025
  • Population up 2.8% from 2020 to 2025
  • Unemployment 3.6%, up 0.2 points from a year ago
  • Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+53,729 jobs), transportation & warehousing (+25,733 jobs)
  • Sectors losing the most jobs: finance & insurance (−7,614 jobs), manufacturing (−6,075 jobs)

Local job-market news

Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Virginia. Each link goes to the publisher.

Learn and get funded in Virginia

Virginia layoffs

  • 73

    Layoff notices, last 12 months

  • 9,078

    workers named

    A floor: states may leave out counts

  • 63

    employers

Layoff notices filed in Virginia, newest first
Notice dateEmployerCity or countyWorkersTypeSource
General Dynamics Information TechnologyTakes effect Dec 30, 2026Herdon153—State record
Haynes Furniture Company Inc.Takes effect Oct 31, 2026Virginia83ClosureState record
EndeavorsTakes effect Dec 31, 2026Statewide20ClosureState record
BuitoniTakes effect Dec 28, 2026Danville251ClosureState record
Wells FargoTakes effect Nov 28, 2026Roanoke87—State record
DCSTakes effect Dec 15, 2026Fort Belvoir65—State record
The Washington PostTakes effect Dec 31, 2026Springfield118ClosureState record
ICF International LLCTakes effect Dec 7, 2026Arlington82—State record
Grunt StyleTakes effect Nov 30, 2026Norfolk8ClosureState record
James RiverTakes effect Nov 30, 2026Richmond19—State record

All layoff notices in the state

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Employers hiring most in Virginia

Employers with the most open professional roles on our job board right now.

  1. Amazon791 open roles
  2. UVA Health197 open roles
  3. M.C. Dean184 open roles
  4. Peraton169 open roles
  5. Commonwealth of Virginia168 open roles
  6. BAE Systems165 open roles
  7. Caci, Inc. - Federal131 open roles
  8. HII Mission Technologies121 open roles
  9. University of Virginia119 open roles
  10. Leidos117 open roles
  11. ICF International111 open roles
  12. Parsons108 open roles

Largest employers headquartered in Virginia

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Higher education in Virginia

  • 54

    public and private non-profit colleges

    Source: IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education

  • about 494,000

    students enrolled

    Estimated from size bands

Largest colleges in Virginia

Largest colleges in Virginia
CollegeCityTypeStudents
George Mason UniversityFairfaxPublic 4-year20,000+
James Madison UniversityHarrisonburgPublic 4-year20,000+
Liberty UniversityLynchburgPrivate non-profit 4-year20,000+
Old Dominion UniversityNorfolkPublic 4-year20,000+
University of Virginia-Main CampusCharlottesvillePublic 4-year20,000+
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondPublic 4-year20,000+
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburgPublic 4-year20,000+
Regent UniversityVirginia BeachPrivate non-profit 4-year10,000–19,999
Norfolk State UniversityNorfolkPublic 4-year5,000–9,999
Radford UniversityRadfordPublic 4-year5,000–9,999
Virginia State UniversityPetersburgPublic 4-year5,000–9,999
William & MaryWilliamsburgPublic 4-year5,000–9,999

All 54 Virginia colleges

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Virginia. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Virginia? How to file for unemployment in Virginia (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

50 American Job Centers in Virginia

Job fairs and business events in Virginia

Hiring events, career workshops, small-business counseling and startup events from chambers, job centers, workforce boards, colleges and economic-development groups in Virginia.

Conferences in Virginia

Industry conferences and trade shows held in Virginia, the ones worth a trip for hiring managers and job seekers. 22 with dates announced.

Showing 24 of 31 conferences, 22 with dates announced.

All conferences

Virginia counties

Each county page has its own unemployment, layoffs, job openings, employers, colleges and job centers.

Show all 133

Virginia cities

Cities with open jobs, layoff notices, a job center or a college.

Show all 137

Laid off or looking for work in Virginia?

See what to do first, what Virginia unemployment benefits pay, and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS for population, income and unemployment; layoff notices from Virginia’s published record; job counts from our live job board, taken from employers’ own career sites; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Virginia unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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