The bureau is recruiting to fill hundreds of thousands of temporary positions across the country.
“Right now we’re at 47% for Washtenaw County for hiring, and so we need to hire approximately another 2,000 jobs, so that’s what we’re recruiting for,” said Charmine Yates, a Census Bureau spokeswoman for Michigan.
Pay for census-taker jobs in Michigan can vary from $14 to $25 an hour, depending on the county, and in Washtenaw County, it’s $23 an hour, according to 2020census.gov.
“The census is coming upon us quickly,” said City Council Member Zachary Ackerman, who said the recruitment manager for the Ann Arbor area informed him hiring was behind schedule.
Ackerman, D-3rd Ward, encourages residents to apply and help make a difference in their community, as the census is a “pretty critical need” and “impacts all our lives.”
Census counts are used to determine representation in Congress and inform how billions of federal dollars are distributed for hospitals, schools, roads and more.
According to 2020census.gov, wages are paid weekly and authorized expenses such as mileage are reimbursed.
With flexible hours, the temporary jobs are a perfect fit for anyone looking to earn extra money, even if they already have other commitments, the Census Bureau website states, encouraging people to “be a part of history.”
The United States has undertaken a census count every 10 years since 1790.
The 2010 census put Ann Arbor’s population at just under 114,000. As the city has grown, most notably the downtown area, it was estimated at just under 122,000 in July 2018.
The Census Bureau opened more than 200 local offices across the country in 2019 to support and manage census takers, who worked into the fall canvassing areas that have experienced a lot of change and growth to ensure address lists are up to date.
The bureau has five local census offices in Michigan — in Detroit, Lansing, Traverse City, Macomb County and Oakland County. Yates, based in Detroit, said several thousand census jobs are still available across the state.
A minimum of 6,571 and a maximum of 19,714 census takers are needed for Michigan, plus 329 to 924 field supervisors, according to a chart provided by the bureau.
The actual number of census workers needed will depend on the self-response rate from residents, said Dan Velez, a Census Bureau national spokesman. If there’s a high self-response rate, fewer census workers will be needed.
“We’ve made some good progress recently toward achieving our recruiting target,” he said, adding recent steps taken to raise awareness of 2020 census job opportunities have resulted in accelerated rates of application submissions.
As of Jan. 27, 2.5 million people had applied nationally, Velez said, expressing confidence in the Census Bureau’s ability to hire the needed workforce for the massive undertaking.
According to the census schedule, households will begin receiving census mail March 12-20, with details on how to respond online, by phone or by mail.
The bureau plans to count people experiencing homelessness March 30 through April 1.
That includes counting people at shelters, soup kitchens, tent encampments and elsewhere.
“Census Day” will be observed nationally April 1. By that date, every home should have received an invitation to participate and tell the bureau where they live as of April 1.
In April, census takers will begin visiting college students who live on campuses, people living in senior centers and others who live among large groups of people.
Census takers also will begin conducting quality-check interviews to help ensure an accurate count.
In May, June and July, census takers will visit homes that haven't responded to the census to help make sure everyone is counted. In December, the bureau will deliver apportionment counts to the president and Congress.
By March 31, 2021, the bureau will send counts to states to redraw legislative districts based on population changes.
©2020 MLive.com, Walker, Mich.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
