FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2000
Decennial Media Relations CB00-CN.02
301-457-3691/301-457-3620 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: 2000usa@census.gov
Census Bureau Begins to Recruit
Hundreds of Thousands of Workers for Census 2000
The Census Bureau today launched a nationwide recruiting campaign to
find workers to fill thousands of short-term employment slots during
Census 2000. To adequately staff the temporary local census offices in
every state, a pool of some 3 million applicants will be needed.
"Census 2000 will be the largest peacetime mobilization in our nation's
history," said Commerce Secretary William M. Daley in a statement.
"Hiring and retaining well-qualified workers will be critical towards
achieving a fair and accurate count."
Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt urged everyone interested in a
census job to call the agency's toll-free number, 1-888-325-7733.
While acknowledging that attracting qualified candidates will be a
challenge in the current labor market, Prewitt noted that Census 2000 jobs
are ideal for retirees, students and others seeking part-time work. For
the first time, most federal employees will be allowed to work on the
census outside their normal work hours. Pay rates range from $8.25 to
$18.50 per hour.
People hired will work primarily out of the 520 local census offices
across the country. Generally, each of the local census offices will need
about 1,000 workers, most of them during a period of four to six weeks.
The largest number will be needed beginning in mid-April when census
workers visit households that do not return their Census 2000 forms by
mail.
During the course of census operations, there will be more than 860,000
employment slots to be filled. Some workers will be hired for one slot,
and then rehired later to fill another slot.
"Our goal is to have a pool of local people who are familiar with
their communities and committed to a successful count in their own
neighborhoods," Prewitt stressed.
Prewitt also underscored the fact that "the stakes are very high in the
census" since, in addition to its constitutional purpose of apportioning
seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the census also is used in
state legislative redistricting and to help determine the share of federal
program funds made available to state, local and tribal governments over
the next decade. Data gathered will affect decisions on many matters of
local importance, including education, health care, employment, housing,
transportation and the environment.
The addresses of local census offices are available on the Internet at
http://www.census.gov/jobs2000/www/index.html.
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The Census Bureau guarantees that the answers given on census forms are
kept strictly confidential. Information collected in Census 2000 will
provide local area data needed for communities to receive federal program
funds and for private sector and community planning.
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