NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newport News Waterworks and the City's Public Works department are holding a joint open house and hiring event this Saturday in an effort to fill dozens of open positions.
The event will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 513 Oyster Point Road in Newport News.
Newport News Waterworks currently operates with about 20% of its positions vacant, a staffing shortage officials say has contributed to a 90-day backlog in fixing smaller water leaks that are not causing active damage.
"Absolutely it does impact service," Jen Cobb, assistant director of Waterworks, said. "We are still running on about 20-percent vacancies so that does impact how quickly we're able to respond to the leaks in our system."
Newport News Waterworks serves Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, York County, and portions of James City County.
News 3 has previously reported on the backlog of water leaks on the Peninsula, including on a street in Hampton in 2023, where a resident described water bubbling out of the ground.
"The water was just bubbling out of the ground," the resident said. "All the cars that were parked there, some of the water was above the rims."
Frank James, director of Public Works, said the two departments decided to combine their recruiting efforts to maximize their reach.
"We have a lot of positions that are similar so we figured why not join together forces and we'll try to reduce our vacancy rate together," James said.
One of the biggest challenges has been recruiting workers with commercial driver's licenses, as there's competition from other employers in the region.
"We're fighting with other municipalities and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel — they took a lot of our skilled workers as far as concrete, truck drivers," Cobb said.
Despite the challenges, officials say the work carries a deeper meaning for those who do it.
"There's an incredible sense of pride that comes with providing this necessity of life," Cobb said.
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