Low unemployment and Coronavirus impact slow recruitment.
Although the U.S. Census Bureau has reached its recruitment goal of 2.7 million for the upcoming 2020 headcount, a spotty spread of hires has Bureau members concerned. In metropolitan areas, there is no shortage of enthusiastic over-recruitment. But in rural areas with aging populations, such as the states of Vermont and West Virginia, under-recruitment is an issue.
J. Christopher Mihm of the Government Accountability Office projected the likely outcome of this predicament. If the Census Bureau is unable to find applicants for those under-serviced areas, “it may have difficulty hiring enough staff to complete upcoming operations, leading to delays, increased costs and eroded data quality”. Reporting online is now easier than ever in the face of the Coronavirus, but in-person data collection is still a necessity and under-representation an impending issue.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the U.S. Census Bureau as they do their best to represent the people of the United States.
- That applicants for the Census taking would be divinely provided.
- That the voice of aging populations would be heard and recorded accurately.
Sources: AP, NPR
