Virginia’s job openings on the rise with 255,000 vacancies: report

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A new analysis of federal data on job openings and labor turnover in Virginia is offering a glimpse into recent employment trends in the Commonwealth.

The Virginia Department of Workforce Development (Virginia Works) on Tuesday, Jan. 6, released an analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which looked at job openings, hiring and other employment statistics in Virginia for October 2025.

Last year, Virginia recorded the most job openings in October 2025, with 255,000 open positions, a 23,000 increase from 232,000 positions in September. The figure, however, is 6% lower than in October 2024.

Virginia's job openings rate also rose to 5.6% in October, marking the state's highest level since the beginning of 2025, per Virginia Works.

During the same period, the number of job openings remained unchanged nationwide at 7.7 million. The national job openings rate was also unchanged at 4.6%.

(Graph: Virginia Works)

According to Virginia Works, the state recorded a downward trend in hires over the year.

Virginia had 126,000 hires in October, a 13% or 17,000 drop in the same period from the previous year.

Per the report, hires are defined as all additions to the payroll during the month.

U.S. hires remained relatively unchanged across the country at 5.1 million with a rate of 3.2%, as Virginia's hiring rate dropped to 2.9%.

Other notable trends in the report include quits, layoffs and discharges.

About 64,000 workers quit their jobs with Virginia employers in October 2025.

Across the country, around 2.9 million workers quit their jobs, down by 276,000 over the year. The industries that recorded the most significant number of quits are accommodation and food services, with about 136,000 workers, health care and social assistance, with around 114,000 and federal government, with about 25,000.

In October 2025, Virginia's quit rate dropped to 1.5% compared to the national rate of 1.8%.

Per Virginia Works, there were 40,000 layoffs and discharges across the Commonwealth in October, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous month.

About 1.9 million U.S. layoffs and discharges were also recorded in the same period.

Click here to see the full report.