Census Bureau to Fill 5,000 Jobs

The Census Bureau is looking to hire about 5,000 new employees, but people have been slow to apply.

Tuesday, December 22nd 2009, 4:47 pm

By: News 9


By Charles Bassett, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thousands of unemployed Oklahomans could start the New Year off right, with a job.

The Census Bureau is looking to hire about 5,000 new employees, but people have been slow to apply.

The pay is well above minimum wage, however they are temporary. But for someone out of work they could be a lifeline.

Phil Chavez took a job with the Census Bureau in the spring after coming out of retirement.

"Since I retired I had been taking on a lot of home projects, a lot of remodeling projects for my daughter and I needed a good break," Chavez said.

Chavez works in the Census Bureau's field operations section. He's helping lay the groundwork for how the census will be conducted.

"The job is very fulfilling, the pay is good, the hours are pretty flexible; if you work out in the field you also get paid mileage, so that makes it nice," Chavez said.

But the Bureau needs more workers like Chavez. Workers are busy screening applications, but they are far short of what they need.

"We have a bank of people already," said Sidna Chambers with the U.S. Census Bureau. "Our numbers need to be at about 8,000 so we are about 5,000 away from that."

When the positions are filled, the employees will work in Oklahoma and Logan counties. The salary for office workers starts at $10.75 an hour. The salary for field workers starts at $14.25.

But the jobs are temporary.

"The job typically lasts six to eight weeks, but if they are a good worker and want to continue on doing other operations we can employ them for several months," Chambers said.

Chavez says he plans to stay through next July, giving him more than a year on the job. He says the job has motivated him to come out of retirement.

"My first profession was engineering," said Chavez. "I'll possibly consider that again."

Learn how you can apply for a job with the Census Bureau.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

December 22nd, 2009

March 14th, 2024

December 4th, 2023

September 25th, 2023

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024