Census takers needed in Spokane County

SPOKANE COUNTY – The U.S. Census is just around the corner and Census Bureau officials are looking for several hundred temporary workers to help collect data from people who do not accept the initial invitation to respond.

According to a news release, the Nonresponse Followup Operation is designed “to count people or person in housing units who have not self-responded to the decennial census questionnaire.” Census takers visit and count these households, something that requires more field workers than other parts of the national operation.

“It’s ideal for college students, retirees or people who are just looking for temporary work,” Census Bureau media liaison for Washington state Toby Nelson said.

Several hundred people are needed in Spokane County, Nelson said. The pay is $16 an hour, with flexible scheduling of hours accommodate those who wish to work part-time or full-time.

The first invitation to participate in the census will be in place until around March, with the Nonresponse Followup Operation beginning sometime in early May. Nelson said three-days of training are provided to field census takers, with one of those days being through “distance learning.”

The actual field operation should last about eight weeks, not including the training sessions.

“We operate on a pretty accelerated timeline with the Census,” Nelson said, noting the count has been taken every 10 years since 1790.

The 2020 Census, the 24th taken, marks the largest peacetime labor mobilization in the U.S. The count influences how more than $675 billion from more than 100 federal programs are distributed to states and localities each year.

For more information about 2020 Census jobs, call 1-855-JOB-2020.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].