Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says he's OK with federal firings, announces website to help workers find new jobs

Kate Seltzer, The Virginian-Pilot on Feb 24, 2025

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a new website Monday, which he said is designed to help laid off and fired federal workers navigate unemployment and find new work.

The Republican governor stressed that Virginia is hiring and ready to take on a potentially large influx of newly unemployed federal workers.

“We have 250,000 jobs that are readily available and open for that next chapter of someone’s career,” he said.

Virginia ranks among the top states for federal workforce employment, and the federal government layoffs planned by the Trump administration are expected to take a toll.

It’s not clear yet how many federal employees have been fired or will be as the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, continues sweeping federal workforce reductions. Youngkin said that the process, which he repeatedly referred to as “job dislocation,” is painful, but necessary.

“I don’t believe that the federal government downsizing is wrong, and in fact, we need to press forward and drive efficiencies in our federal government,” Youngkin told reporters after Monday’s event. “And as a result of driving those efficiencies, I do expect that some Virginians will lose their jobs, and that’s why it’s so important that we provide alternative opportunities for them.”

The website debuted Monday, virginiahasjobs.com, has information about job fairs, updating résumés and how to apply for unemployment benefits.

About 145,000 federal jobs are located in Virginia — but many more Virginians commute to federal jobs in Washington, D.C., or Maryland or work for the federal government remotely. According to Census data, 315,000 federal workers live in Virginia, including about 64,000 in the Hampton Roads metro area. The federal civilian workforce is concentrated in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. According to the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, nearly 40% of civilian residents employed in Virginia by the federal government work in Fairfax, Arlington and Norfolk.

The Hampton Roads webpage on the newly announced website links to job postings in regional public schools and the military, as well as LinkedIn and Indeed postings for jobs like IT specialist and sheet metal foreman. It also links to the Hampton Roads Workforce Council website — though most of the roles listed on that job board appear to have been posted two months ago.

The Virginia Has Jobs website also provides resources on how to apply for unemployment. Currently, the maximum unemployment benefits in Virginia are $378 a week for 26 weeks, a total of $9,828.

Maryland launched a similar website initiative earlier this month.

The General Assembly passed legislation this session that would extend from 30 days to 60 days the stay on foreclosure proceedings for homeowners and tenants affected by federal closures and furloughs. In a similar vein, another bill would increase the weekly unemployment benefits by $100. Both bills await signatures from Youngkin.

Democrats have been critical of the federal job cuts, and state lawmakers formed an emergency committee tasked with assessing the economic fallout and crafting solutions. At the committee’s first meeting, held Saturday, state officials acknowledged that since the beginning of the month, fewer than 300 federal employees have filed unemployment insurance claims with the Virginia Employment Commission.

House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said that DOGE was creating a preventable crisis by wielding a “sledgehammer, when they could easily use a scalpel.”

Scott said that at first glance, the new website doesn’t appear to provide listings that most newly fired federal workers would be qualified for.

“It’s a mismatch,” he said. “It’s disingenuous to say we can absorb all of the jobs that are being cut.”

Scott said that the legislature would likely be back in session to address federal workforce and funding cuts in the coming months, and would spend time gathering information on the scope of the changes.

“As soon as we gather all the information we need, we’re going to try to move as quick as we can to find some relief, and hopefully we’ll have to continue to fight back against this administration’s cuts with our federal partners,” he said.

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