With National Census Day—April 1—approaching, the NAACP encourages the community to apply for Census Bureau positions before job selection begins on December 1. All applicants are welcome, and there are a variety of jobs to fill.
The national census, taken every 10 years since 1790, is the country’s biggest single peacetime project. The goal is to count each and every person living in the United States, no matter how young or old, no matter their citizenship.
The online census job application process takes approximately 30 minutes.
“The census determines how funds are allocated,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said during a recent teleconferene, stressing that the Black community must not be left behind. “All the things we depend on in this society, those things we depend on are funded by our tax dollars.”
Knowing how many people live in which areas of the U.S. will affect political representation and billions of dollars’ worth of spending decisions involving schools, healthcare and programs that serve low-income communities over the next decade.
Bishop Paul Sylvester Morton, of Changing a Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church, located in Atlanta, was featured on the NAACP teleconference and quoted scripture to stress the urgency: “We have been destroyed because of a lack of knowledge.”
“Usually we are the last to know,” Morton said. “”I believe that God wants us to be at the top of the top.”
To apply for the temporary positions, visit: www.2020census.gov/jobs. For job inquiries at the LA regional office, call 800.992.3529 or visit los.angeles.jobs@census.gov. Multilingual applicants may get preferential consideration, as their skills will help assure that every community is fully counted.
“Future generations will benefit from a complete count,” said U.S. Census Bureau Chicago Regional Director Marilyn Sanders.
The biggest need is for workers to knock on the doors of people who didn’t complete the census questionnaires online, on paper, or by phone. These workers, known as “enumerators,” will have to get in-person responses.
Every Area Census Office (ACO) will need 600-800 enumerators. Los Angeles’ eight offices are offering enumerators $18 to $21 per hour.
A supervisor must be hired for every 20 enumerators, so every ACO needs between 30 and 40 of those, depending on the size of the local population.
The salary range for the field representative position is from $14.30 to $17.27 per hour. Applicants selected for this position will work from home and will be required to travel throughout their local area on a routine basis.
Additionally, every census office also needs dozens of office clerks, and for every 10 of those, a supervisor.
Some census positions are flexible and could allow workers to hold another job or attend school.
Applicants must clear a background check, be US citizens, 18 or older and have an email address. Fingerprinting is also required. Having a misdemeanor conviction isn’t necessarily a disqualifier.
Most jobs will begin next year. Office staff will be employed in the run-up to the release of the census questionnaire, whereas enumerators won’t be brought in until it’s clear how much follow-up work needs to be done to collect data from those who didn’t respond to questionnaires. The bulk of the enumerators’ assignment is expected to run from May through the end of July.
In all cases, before the new employees begin working, there will be weeks of paid training. One aspect of the training process involves taking an oath to preserve the confidentiality of respondents’ personal information.
