The Census Bureau is delaying hiring and field operations – By Andrew Eversden (Federal Times) / March 21 2020
The Census Bureau has paused all hiring and on-boarding for nearly 600,000 employees due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, top Census officials told reporters March 20.
The suspension will run through “at least” April 1, said Census Associate Director for Field Operations Tim Olson. The on-boarding process includes getting fingerprints, background checks and completing forms, before training begins.
“We are communicating with both applicants and those who recently accepted a job offer of this pause,” Olson said on a call with reporters.
Olson said the Census has received over 2.8 million applicants and that hiring in its 248 field offices is “nearly” finished. The bureau will keep its application site open “for the foreseeable future” as it anticipates people will drop out and still encourages people to apply, he said, adding that the bureau may need more temporary employees than it initially anticipated.
The Census officials also announced that outreach programs would be delayed for weeks, though damage done by the delays is somewhat mitigated because several efforts weren’t set to begin for at least that long.
Continue to article: https://www.federaltimes.com/management/leadership/2020/03/20/the-census-bureau-is-delaying-hiring-and-field-operations/
