Census-Taker Jobs Go Begging in State

U.S. Census Bureau officials in California expressed concern Tuesday that the agency has failed so far to attract a large-enough pool of applicants to tap for the temporary work force needed to count heads in the state starting in April.

Census offices up and down the state have experienced problems finding workers to fill posts, with the problem particularly acute in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, as well as urban sections of Northern California, federal authorities said.

Although census officials had hoped to assemble a list of about 250,000 people to draw from when the tally kicks into high gear in April, only about 75,000 potential employees have signed up for nearly 40,000 jobs, census officials said.

“We’re concerned, so we’re trying everything we can to recruit more people,” said Barbara Keller, the Los Angeles-based census recruiting coordinator in California.

As part of the once-a-decade head count, the Census Bureau pulls together an army of about 500,000 workers nationwide to fill temporary jobs as enumerators, clerical workers and data processors. Most of the positions last only a few months, with the bulk of the workers coming aboard in April as the agency begins the laborious task of tracking down residents who fail to return the census form.

Census officials in the state had hoped to develop a pool of applicants large enough to ensure there would be no labor shortages. With the relatively modest wages (most jobs pay about $7.50 hourly) and temporary nature of the work, many qualified employees have already moved on to other work by the time the census calls, can’t be reached or simply decide not to take a position. Others take the jobs, then later quit.

In Los Angeles County, authorities set a goal of 68,000 people in the applicant pool, but have attracted just 22,000 so far for the 9,000 to 12,000 jobs that are to be filled in the weeks to come, Keller said.

San Diego County has experienced a similar shortage, with 6,000 applicants instead of the goal of 18,000.

The situation is even worse in Orange County, where a list of about 3,500 workers has been compiled, far short of the 15,000 census officials had hoped for, Keller said.

The dearth of applicants for the temporary jobs is probably due to the economic vitality and low unemployment rate in the state, Keller and other census officials speculate. In particular, urban areas such as Orange County enjoy some of the most robust economies in the nation.

If a large enough work force isn’t assembled, the shortfall could pose problems, the officials said. The counting process could be slowed, raising costs because district offices would have to remain open longer than anticipated.

Moreover, any delay in tallying the populace could color results, Keller said. Census workers might be put in a position of arriving at homes months after the official April 1 census day, only to find the occupants have moved on without being recorded, she suggested.

“What we’re trying to do is get a snapshot of America on April 1,” Keller said. “If people have moved or something has changed by the time we reach them, it creates problems.”