Welcome to HickoryRecord.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

HickoryRecord.com - Hickory Daily Record

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Up to 1,300 census workers may be needed for this area

DETAILS

Call the Hickory census office, on 16th Street, NE, at 270-3800 for an employment test appointment or call the Jobs Line at 1-866-861-2010.

By Ragan Robinson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: December 10, 2009

HICKORY - At most, the local census office will hire 1,300 field workers in 2010.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced Wednesday the census would make 24,000 jobs available in North Carolina beginning in 2010.

Hickory's temporary census jobs will pay $11.50 an hour.

A few will be available in February, said Tony Jones, a U.S. Census bureau spokesman in the Charlotte office.

The census office will hire remaining field workers in March and April. Employees will go to work in late April, May and June.

The 1,300 isn't definite, Jones said. If enough area households mail in their survey forms, fewer field agents will be necessary.

The U.S. Census Bureau had some local job openings posted earlier this year, but not many of those were available for long, said Allan Mackie of the Catawba County office of the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

Field agents, or census takers, will locate households, explain the purpose of the census, conduct interviews, help people complete questionnaires and record responses.

Most census takers work in their own communities during hours people are typically home. That means they must be available during evenings and weekends.

Workers also have to take an employment test that assesses clerical, reading, interpreting and organizational skills. Bilingual employees are needed.