Clerk Position In Support of Decennial Census - Anonymous employee US Census Bureau Employee Review

4.0
4 Jul 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The Decennial Census is a count of all people in the United States performed every ten years as required by law and performed by the Census Bureau (part of the Commerce Department). Almost all positions to perform and manage the census are temporary part time and consist of field or office work. Most of the office positions are temporary full time while the field positions tend to be temporary part time. The clerk position is a temporary full time position performing general administrative tasks such as filing, generation of products (forms, maps, checklists) necessary to perform the census or products necessary to hire other workers, recruitment of workers, and payroll tasks (time sheet data entry, weekly payroll generation, etc). All of the tasks are necessary to perform the census and an accurate census is necessary to properly apportion federal, state, and local benefits on the basis of population. The number of US Representatives per state is determined by the census. Such questions as "How many {hospitals, post offices, unemployment offices, etc. etc.} do we need?" require accurate population statistics to answer and it is the job of the Census Bureau through the ten-year Decennial census and more frequent population surveys to produce such statistics.

Cons

The large numbers of jobs created by the Decennial census are temporary and only occur every ten years. The number of permanent jobs necessary to perform the ongoing counts and statistical determination is much smaller. The ad-hoc nature of the Decennial census does not provide for any kind of an environment where process improvement or documentation can be performed or is desired.

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5.0
8 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay and benefits were fair enough

Cons

Large workload with diminishing resources year over year

3.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Worthwhile work to benefit the city you are working in. Most everyone I worked with was pretty nice and willing to lend a hand if needed. But I feel like I saw the other side of how upper management treats people they don't like as much and i saw aspects that weren't as good through upper managements treatment of others.

Cons

Constantly changing directives from upper management. And they don't have your back when you get questioned why you followed the most recent order from your boss. Inconsistent pay scales by position. Pay varies by location. But they don't adjust it upward. If you hire on in a city that pays less, you don't get a bump if you stay with the company and work in a new city that pays better in your next assignment. Meaning new hires with no experience can easily make more than you because they started in the city that pays more. One of my best employees was paid the least. I felt bad and tried to get their rate adjusted with no luck. It very much has the vibe of they are figuring out things as they go, The department is grossly understaffed. Technology is lacking creating inefficiencies.

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