Census employee recruitment on track
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LAKE COUNTY – The U.S. Census has received about half of the needed number of applications needed for census-takers in Lake County. U.S. Census Bureau media specialist Josh Manning said the collected applications put the census process “well on track.”
To date, Manning said the census has well over 250 applicants for the Lake County positions. They hope to get a pool of several hundred to select from. About 20 to 30 percent of those who apply will be offered positions if the target number of applicants is reached.
Applications will be accepted through January. Jobs will be offered to applicants starting in January. Training will start in March, and the positions will start in April. The peak season for census-takers will be in May, June and July.
Manning said recruitment in Lake County has been successful compared to other counties in Montana. He said it’s been particularly difficult to recruit applicants from eastern Montana and Bozeman.
The census project is also partnering with Western Native Voice and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to get the word out. Manning said it’s important to have enough qualified employees to effectively implement the census because having an accurate count is necessary for congressional representation and federal funding.
Federal tax dollars are doled out to states depending on their populations, so in order to get the federal financial support Montana deserves, everyone must be counted. The census also determines how many representatives in Congress each state gets. Montana could be eligible for an extra member of Congress if the census finds the population has grown.
The census jobs pay competitive wages and have flexible hours. Those interested in applying for a job can visit 2020census.gov.
