Making it count: Census Bureau looking for temporary workers in Southeast Missouri

With the 2020 census scheduled to start in just a few months, the U.S. Census Bureau is "counting" on finding several hundred thousand temporary workers to conduct the count.

"We're going to hire almost a million people nationwide," said Harry Niendorf, recruiting assistant with the Census Bureau in the Cape Girardeau area. Niendorf spoke last week about the bureau's employee recruitment efforts at a meeting of the Scott City Area Chamber of Commerce.

The U.S. Constitution mandates a census of the nation's population be taken every 10 years. Census results are used to define legislative districts and accurately apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Demographic data from the census is also used to allocate funding for various federal, state and local projects. In addition, census information is used by state and local governments, private businesses, school systems and individuals for a variety of reasons.

Niendorf recruits part-time census workers in five Southeast Missouri counties -- Cape Girardeau, Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid and Stoddard.

"We're trying to get the word out to people who could use a job," he told the chamber members. "So if you have people in your church or in your businesses who have family members who don't have a good job right now, this might be a temporary fix for them."

A retiree himself, Niendorf began working part-time with the Census Bureau to stay busy and because he jokingly admits he "couldn't play golf all the time."

Although the actual "count" won't happen until next year, preliminary preparations are well underway.

"Right now, we're hiring people to work on address verification," Niendorf said. "We're going to verify every address in the county that you live in and get all that data inputted into the system. Then, in the spring, we're going to go to specific addresses and hopefully get people to complete the census questionnaire."

The address verification process will run through about November, Niendorf said, and then the actual "counting" will take place from about February until around June.

"April 1 is actually Census Day, when by law we have to count everybody where they are as of that day, but we'll do a lot of pre-counting," he said.

Working for the Census Bureau, Niendorf said, is a good job for people who are looking for a second income for a few months.

"The job is a three- to five-month position with flexible hours, which means people can work after work or after school," he said. Census workers are paid $14 an hour and are reimbursed 58 cents a mile for work mileage. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and must be United States citizens.

One good thing for young people about working as a census taker, it gives them a job reference with the federal government, Niendorf pointed out, adding once they apply for a census job, applicants are then on file and able to apply for other federal jobs "and already have some of the legwork done."

As for how many job applicants the Census Bureau is looking for in this area, Niendorf said "it's kind of a moving target. We're trying to get a couple hundred applications in Cape County and in Scott County -- our quota is 300 applications. Ultimately, we'll be hiring 35 or 40 people in each county working part time. Some will work one or two days a week, some will work four or five days a week."

On average, he said, it takes about 35 to 40 days to process job applications, including fingerprinting and criminal background checks.

Online applications are accepted at 2020census.gov/jobs.

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