REDMOND, OR -- The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a job fair in Redmond Thursday, to recruit employees for the upcoming census. Area Census Office Manager Jeff McGowan says they need hundreds of people for jobs starting in the fall, "Field production workers who go out and they do what we call address canvassing. They basically go out, they go verify addresses against our master address file and our maps. And, we're also in the process of hiring more people for recruiting in preparation for the count in 2020."
 

The job fair is 2-5 p.m. at the Redmond Library. McGowan tells KBND News those who attend can bring their own devices to access the internet, or use the computers on hand to apply. Or, they can look for work from home, "Anybody who's looking for a job, or maybe already has a job and is looking to make some extra money while supporting their community, they should apply at that website at 2020census.gov/jobs." He adds, "They need to be 18 years old, have a social security number, be a citizen, have an email address, and then they can apply. If somebody's graduating from high school and they're not 18 yet, they can still apply, and then when they're 18, they'd be eligible to be hired. So, we're hiring people now, and we'll continue hiring into the next year."

Getting an accurate census count is important for future federal funding that goes to schools, infrastructure, and emergency services. It also determines how many government Representatives the state gets.