Push On To Hire Census Workers

On his third day working for the U.S. Census, Nnamdi Emenyonu had a message for fellow city residents who feel stymied by the cumbersome job application process: Don’t give up. The jobs are worth it.

And they’re ready for the taking: The New Haven office is less than halfway toward its goal of hiring 2,874 workers.

Emenyonu offered those words of encouragement Wednesday afternoon during a Census 2020 job fair and press conference held on the second floor of City Hall.

Emenyonu is a Fair Haven resident and U.S. Census field manager based out of the the Census’s local office at 59 Elm St.

He did not stand alongside Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Mayor Justin Elicker, and the nearly 20 other alders and state legislators who turned out to promote the importance of New Haven receiving a full count once the Census starts on April 1.

Rather, he was one of the local Census staffers helping interested New Haveners fill out applications in a second-floor conference room several dozen feet behind where the press conference took place.

“The process is tedious,” he said about the roughly half-hour application and then the days and weeks that applicants have to wait before finding out if they’ve secured a job with the Census.

“But you’ve got to stick with it. It’s worth it.”

Emenyonu said he earns around $30 an hour as a manager at the local office, which currently employs around 30 ​“enumerators”— census takers charged with getting the word out about the once-a-decade federal count that determines federal legislative districts and influences federal grants that Connecticut gets for everything from Medicaid and Medicare to food stamps and Head Start.

He works roughly 40 hours a week, having started with the Census just three days prior. Part-time workers can have more flexible schedule and earn $23.50 an hour.

Inside the Census application help area, Southbury resident John Potz (pictured at center) was helping interested New Haveners create their online profiles and start working on the applications.

“It’s looking like people who have applied most recently will be hired in March or April,” he said. Potz said he had applied for his job with the Census several months ago.

Jahlyn Lowndes (pictured), an 18-year-old Sound School graduate who will be studying at the University of Connecticut next semester, said she learned about the Census job hiring push at Wexler Grant’s MLK, Jr. Day conference on Monday.

“I had no idea about the hiring process and that they were hiring regular people,” she said.

She told Potz she had already submitted her application, but hadn’t heard back from the Census. Potz encouraged her to be patient, and to expect a response some time soon.

Another New Havener who declined to share her name or be photographed said that she recently retired from a job working for the city, and was looking for a good-paying part-time job.

“I’m retired and unemployed and looking for a way to supplement my income,” she said.

Mark Harvey (pictured, with Byrsiewicz) said he already has a full-time job as a counselor. ​“It was the pay,” he said about why he came out to apply for a Census job. He focused on the second page of the online application, mouthing the words of 20-word question to himself to figure out exactly what the form was asking of him.

“I need a second job,” he said.

At the press conference, Bysiewicz (pictured) stressed the importance of New Haveners applying for jobs with the Census so that Connecticut won’t be undercounted come April.

For every person not counted, she said, Connecticut loses around $2,900 in federal funding. ​“So do the math. If we undercount by 100 or 1,000 people in New Haven, that is really important financial resources that don’t go where they need to go.”

She said that as of a few days ago, New Haven’s Census regional office had hired only 974 people. The office aspires to hire 2,874.

Most of the part-time jobs will start in March, she said. Postcards will be mailed out to every household in New Haven.

Starting April 1, people will be able to fill out the Census online. They can go to the public library to fill out the form online if they don’t have internet access at home.

If people do not respond online, she said, then a paper form will be mailed to their household.

If people do not respond to the paper form or through a 1 – 800 call number, then a census taker will come in person to help individuals fill out forms.

“The message is that people should apply now,” said Deputy Regional Director of U.S. Census Bureau Ian Hull (pictured).

People with past criminal records should also apply, he said. Every application is considered on an individual basis.

“We have a long recruiting period because we need to hire so many people,” he added in response to a question about the long lag time between applicants submit and when they hear back. He said applicants must be 18 years old or older to secure a job with the Census.

“Rest assured: We’re in the hiring period now.”

Interested applicants can go to https://2020census.gov/en/jobs.html to apply for a Census job. Click on the Facebook Live video below to watch the full press conference.