Today’s unemployment figures — and more Census workers’ true confessions
I’m continuing with our ongoing series of insider e-mails from Census workers. (Part One is here, Part Two is here). It’s worth keeping these accounts in mind as you read news of the unemployment figures today:
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in March, and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month. Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010.
A common theme from the Census workers who’ve written in is the directive from their managers to slow down, stall, waste time, and stretch out their work unnecessarily.
Makes sense from a book-cooking standpoint, doesn’t it? More on the job inflation effect of the temporary Census worker hires here.
And now, more true confessions…
From reader X.:
I’ve noticed the last couple of days census workers have been confessing the inner details and I too am compelled to share my story. First, I ask for anonymity because I have been without work and am in need of a job, but I have been working with the census for 2 weeks and everyday I shake my head at the blatant inefficiency, and deliberate misuse of taxpayer money. Specifically, we have been doing enumeration for those who do not have a home, the homeless in shelters, soup kitchens and in targeted nonsheltered outdoor locations, such as parks, subway stations, etc. I personally have been sent to check on shelters that were already determined to be day programs only during the preceding round of quality control, yet they pay me the mileage and hourly wage to go back and make sure that they are still only day programs. I walked through parks and parking lots looking for homeless people to enumerate, not even by talking to them, but just by observing their race, sex, and approximate age.
I have indirectly been told to not work too fast, that each operation is budgeted to last until a certain date and that there is no reason to move faster and end before the scheduled time. The inefficiency of the materials and the redundancies in the process of taking a form, giving it to a respondent and having them seal it in an envelope, then give the envelope to me where I open it and verify the census form is complete, then reseal the form in a new envelope and give it to my crew leader. Then my crew leader opens this envelope, checks that I have marked the form complete, and then reseals it in yet another envelope. Where it then goes to the local census office, and is once again opened, and inputted into the computer system. And those three envelopes? They end up in the shredder along with the form. Just a complete waste of resources.
I would not say that this is the fault of any of the people I work with directly; I have met chefs, med students, retired professors and teachers, accountants, college students- these people are all hardworking and excited to be doing what they believe to be civil service to country. I myself am a secondary education major at West Chester University with a specialization in History and Civics, and I applied to the census because I was thrilled to be able to gain the experience of civil service. I still am trying to believe that what I’m doing is in some way important, but I’m doubting that now. The way the process has been setup by government bureaucracy is so backwards and prevents a person who is industrious and efficient from being able to work freely. Its like it is deliberately setup and complicated in process so that it forces you to work slower and equalize the amount of work that each employee produces everyday. I’m used to the situation being the harder and faster you work, the better you show yourself as a worker. This is the first job where I am encouraged to be slow and inefficient.
Thank you Michelle for reading this and for opening this subject up. It is important that the taxpayers in this country know where their money is going!
From reader M.G.:
I’ve been keeping up with your census “series” and thought I’d drop a line to tell you that it was much the same in Iowa. My wife and two close friends were between jobs at the time and all got hired as enumerators. They got paid mileage and had a full weeks training. Some people had their hotels paid for. Training was horrifically dumbed down so that all of the unqualified hires could keep up. Their job was supposed to last for 8 weeks and after the first week all of them were told they had to slow down. They did and ended up wasting lots of time, but even so, their 8 week job only lasted 4 weeks.
It was really amazing to hear the stories of inefficiency, waste and horrible planning/management. The team leaders were not “leaders” and wouldn’t have been given management positions if they were in the private sector. The whole thing was one scary joke…
From reader K.:
I too was a Census worker….but I choose not to go back…….
I had the great pleasure of working for the address canvassing last spring. I was hired in early April for a job that was to be completed by the first week of July. I have a military background and a background in Human Resources, the whole process left me with blood squirting from my eyes.
Training was one very long week. The training consisted of the crew leaders (who were trained a week earlier) standing up and read to us from the training manual…verbatim. 90% of the training was a total waste of time….
I worked in the field for 4 days so that I would know what to do. The remainder of my time was spent setting in a McDonalds to have a daily progress meeting with each of the enumerators. I was paid from the time I left my house to the time I got home…plus mileage. I was told to pad the time or mileage to cover my McDonalds food, since I was camping in a booth all day. For all that I was paid $11.75 an hour.
Our blocks to be canvassed was taken from old maps and digitized for GPS marking. For most of the time the address was there. I just had to make minor corrections or add new homes. We were told that as “Federal Employees” we had the right to walk around the property and inspect for other entrances that could be considered a separate living area. Do you think I was willing to tromp some rural homestead, flying Confederate flag?
The handheld computers stunk. Half the time they didn’t work. I had crew members get paid just to be on a phone all day talking to the tech people. The Census would not ship out a new one. .. rather a worker would have to drive to Pittsburgh to have the unit looked at. (I live 80 miles from Pittsburgh…so that was $80 for mileage plus an easy 8 hour paid day.) Fed-ex would have been $30.
We had a really good crew, and were done by the second week of May (rather than the first week of July!) Philadelphia was going nuts because our region was getting done so fast, but there was nothing we could do to slow it down another 2 months. So then we got the word to hurry up and wrap it up.
Our local crew wanted to know why were done so fast. I told them that government workers wrote the regs. If they had been doing the job it would have taken 3 months. We were just regular Joes who had a “get it done” work ethic.
I never saw such a mismanaged outfit in all my life. I just shook my head in total disbelief. Our work could have been done with half the people. We did have those that quit right after training, to the tune of $800 spent on nothing. I earned approximately $3000. I will say to be quite honest it was the easiest money I ever made.
On the exit interview, I was asked if I wanted to be called back for further work. I wrote “NO” in big letters. I didn’t want to take any further part in what I saw to be a racket. I was not contacted any further….until last week. I told them I was not interested in working for the Obama Administration.
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Of course, that way, it is fair for the less industrious, who then won’t feel bad and lose self esteem, because others are rewarded for their hard work.
Has anyone else received an “American Community Survey?” I received one yesterday and it’s horrible. I received the first census servey and filled out how may people lived in the house. This new one asked for your age, date of birth, year house was built, do you have a second mortgage etc. etc., fuel used for heating, and on and on. Then what got me was they want to know if you are a citizen, your education, ancestry, ar you covered by HEALTH INSURNCE and by whom, mental problems, marital status, military status, did you work for pay last week, what time do you leave for work . . . .
This is the 3rd survey I have recieved. I filled out the first simple one, thru away the 2nd dupicate and only put person and date of house built on this one. No wonder our country is broke.
Geez, should have used spell check, more coffee.
It would be nice to see some of these folks getting some hidden camera video and/or audio, like the ACORN investigators did.
Eye b4 e xcpt aftr see, or something like that.
I have been out of work for a while and would like to work and this sounds good at first; easy money. But then I realize that I’m taking it from my neighbors and fellow countrymen. I would also be taking it from my children who will someday have to pay for all this mess.
Would that more of your countrymen had that same moral fiber and yearned to earn their keep. I wish you well in your employment endeavors.
This kind of reminds me of the joke in Eastern Europe under communism: they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work.
Yes, but at least there’s a case to be made that it is constitutional. Obviously they’ve expanded it far beyond original intent, but the decision to do this (and by extension, to spend some money on it) is in the Constitution.
The feds will (or probably already have) hired about 600,000 temporary census workers. That means the private sector is still bleeding jobs in a big way. Look at it this way: we keep reducing the number of mules pulling the ever-growing government wagon. How is that a good thing? Government jobs produce nothing and create a burden on those of us who actually produce for everyone else.
Another important observation about the oft-cited “cash on the sidelines”. Much of it is held by the banks who will need that cash once they are forced to face the music on that worthless toxic debt carried at inflated prices on their balance sheets due to “marking to make-believe”. Remember that when appraising those “profits” on the Fed’s own balance sheet as that day of reckoning approaches. The Fed has painted itself in a corner unable to sell those artificially over-priced assets at any price.
That mountain of cash won’t cover those losses and we should be using the cash hoarding as an indicator of how big the banks themselves believe the problem will be. The It is very possible that the entire global banking system is insolvent. The numbers just don’t pencil out.
For real unemployment and inflation figures, always go here:
http://www.shadowstats.com/
Broader February Unemployment Measures Rose: U.6 at 16.8% (up 0.3%), SGS at 21.6% (up 0.4%) •
February’s Annual Inflation: CPI-U (2.1%), SGS (9.4%)
They don’t have the true March figures out yet.
Can you please show me in the Constitution where it’s okay to take money from me and spend it frivolously?
A dog sled only goes as fast as its slowest dog.
When I was a STate employee I was told many times, “Stop working so fast, you’ll make us look bad.”
It was an awful job.
Isn’t that every labor union’s motto?
I was also a State worker, during a Dukakis administration no less. It is the proverbial ‘Elephants Graveyard’. The amount of goof off time is incredible.
The only “honest” government job is in the military. I realize that that is a general statement, and not true in all cases(even the military has its share of slackers and “wannabes”), but for the most part, we were on call 24/7/365, and generally worked sixteen to eighteen hour days.
I was and am proud of my service, but I don’t know if I could have hacked it moving to a government job like those told about here.
I have no words for this other than WTF?!?!?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35178712@N05/4484439164/?addedcomment=1#comment72157623630650909
this was taken at my supermarket. she’s there with her high tech set up to “help” with the really hard questions on the census form.
This is pretty much the norm at the federal offices I have seen. I have seen division managers intentionally cause tens-of-thousands of dollars of mischief for fellow managers they disliked. I have seen entire offices where nobody was present for most of the day for weeks. I have seen offices where people are doing personal work on government equipment and supplies. I have seen offices where everyone is sitting around the office doing anything but work.
Frankly, we should stop counting most government employees as “employed” and remove them from the statistics. They are a net drain on the economy.
Does this survey say it’s from the US census agency? Rush had a caller yesterday who mentioned some type of survey similar to this and he was saying that there is fraud associated with some of these surveys. The census doesn’t include these types of questions (normally) so I’m curious who’s behind it. Why would the census need the date your house was built. All that type of information is available through local government. Sounds weird.
I see lots of people can understand how it is to be a govt employee. And the managers! If you worked too fast you were punished. If you wondered where all the dept. credit cards for office supplies went and is that why the boss and his secretary/lover have DVD players in their offices, you are punished. And on and on.
I used to say that if the Commies ever took over, we would know how to act. I just never thought it would happen so soon.
Fear not for He Who Has Come will soon lower insurance premiums 3000% and you will all get raises--except you who are unemployed I guess. If we are to have European Nanny statism we will have European chronic high employment.
Germany —– Unemployment: 9.1%
France — Unemployment: 10.6%
Britain — Unemployment: 7.8%
When the EVIL Boosh tax cuts expire and we NEED a Value Added Tax to pay for the Obaminations expect higher unemployment to be permanent-IRS jobs excepted.
===
In solidarity with our British cousins National Health Service I declare this DO NOT BRUSH YOUR TEETH DAY
friend of mine got ‘employed’ for the census was told they’d have work for a month … were done in about 2 weeks or less and instead of being “laid off” were “fired” – WTF? She said that they would fire all workers and then rehire them later … getting laid off is one thing, getting fired another
Tiger Lady- Yes, I believe so. Prepaid postage from the Dept. of Commerce. With same type of bar code as he original.
Suppressing the urge to choke a jerk into oblivion causes stress-file for disability
I wonder what the penalty is for not filling it out or putting NOYB? I haven’t received one so I’ll wait until I do to decide if I want to share this info.
Our household was “chosen” for one of those last year. I called the main office and told them if they wanted my financial info they could call the IRS and anything else they would need would be found on the census. They were really aggressive, but when I asked to see where by law I was required to fill it out, they backed way off and left us alone.
RE govt efficiency: I got a call from the unemployment office yesterday asking for information over the phone that I’m required to submit by Apr 30 using the form they sent me last week which is sitting on my desk.
When I told the girl that I was frantically trying to make a deadline and I’d rather talk next week (again the form/info isn’t due until Apr 30 so I saw no problem with this), she informed me that it isn’t about my convenience, it’s about hers, and then told me how rude I was.
(And when I speak to her supervisor next week–at my convenience–I will have a copy of their mission statement on hand so I can point on during the conversation the bullet points they’re violating, like “we are fair, considerate, and respectful in our interaction with our customers.”)
I’m wondering, after considering the intrusiveness of the American Community Survey and the rudeness of my local welfare office, when it was that government (and by extention its workers) started to buy into the idea that we work for them?
I try to educate my public servants one at a time, but it’s slow going.
March Figures Out:
No. 289: March Employment and Unemployment, Liquidity Crisis Subscription required April 2nd, 2010
• March Unemployment Rose to 9.8% Net of Census Hiring • Official Reporting: BLS U-3 Held at 9.7%, U-6 Rose to 16.9%, SGS Rose to 21.7% • March Employment Gain of 162,000 Was 114,000 Net of Temporary Census Hiring • Economic-Deterioration Signal Intensifies
http://www.shadowstats.com/
My family was chosen 10 years ago for an in-depth questionnaire for the census. They had brought in a ton of census workers and put them up at the hotels. Since this is a seasonal work environment and anyone who wanted to work could find a job, it was hard to find census workers to fill the positions.
The census worker was very adamant that we needed to answer more questions. She had a hand-held computer. She would ask us a question, and we would refuse to answer. We kept her standing at the door, not inviting her into the living room. The questions were ridiculous – can’t remember them all, but in effect we said “NOTDB – none of their da** business.”
She finally gave up after coming to our house 3 times.
rfjjulie,
I received the ACS more than 3 yrs ago. I didn’t respond. Got the mailings, phone calls and visits from 2 field reps. Didn’t open the mail, answer the phone or the door. They went away after the 90 day harassment and I never heard another peep from them.
I think I have decided it’s NOYB. They can bug me all they want, but we’ve got to stand up and say no this all of this intrusion.
We sent the census in a week or so ago. Yesterday, we got another census form, the same as the first. I am wondering if other people are getting two or more to count more people if the households fill the forms out? I put the form in the trash. More waste of taxpayers money!
L
I guess what I’m most
concerned of,paranoid of,fearful of,surprised at, is the forms are “inputted into the computer system” – then shredded? I’m hoping that “inputted” means digitally scanned?I would spend $1000 of my own money to be the guy taking the census at the White House.
“Place of birth?”
“Hahahahahahaha-no really…”
I’m guessing someone shoves them into a 5.25″ floppy slot…
Oh, I meant to mention that locally, the news media is reporting a phishing sort of scam. The form looks like the real thing and asks for all sorts of unnecessary info like social security number.
Who can say if a non-registered piece of mail ever actually arrives. Stuff get’s lost in the mail all the time…
“Enumerators” can stop by and you can have plans or be too concerned about security to open the door. And of course, because someone presents a credential doesn’t mean you have to accept it as valid. Government stuff can be so confusing, you know.
They cannot detain you by force and they can’t break into your house.
Eventually they will give up and the calls will stop. In some cases, passive aggressive behavior pays off…
Yeah, NEVER give bank account and social security number to anyone! Period! I had a doctor’s office ask for my SSN over the phone. Who are they kidding? Geez…
FUNNY!
Not so much…
I am not sure I would ever use “inputted” but with the government one never knows…
She looks like she’s concentrating on having a bowel movement….right next to the Passover Matzo, no less.
Cuz da gubmint be pickin up da tab (us taxpayers…ready and unwilling to participate in the redistribution of wealth).
Lifetime Democrat Voters.
How’s that War On Poverty workin’ out for ya?
But for Obama’s laser like focus on the 3 letter words – JOBS – our country would have been in deep doodoo.
Thank God for Obama’s dogged dedication on Creating and Saving JOBS.
/sarc off
Spaceycakes-
I haven’t laughed that hard in ages!!!
I work with someone who came from Tajikistan. She said when they were part of the Soviet Union they would be given work projects for 3 months and the team would do nothing until the last 2 weeks.
The census worker who came to my door asked only a few questions like name, birth date and place of birth. She was done in less than two minutes. Amazed that the questions DID NOT ask my religion or ethnic group, I took another good hard look her I.D. which confirmed she was indeed a U.S. census worker.
So what’s all this talk about detailed questions on race and religion?
I don’t know about the rest of the country, but here in Salt Lake City, the census was performed as the U.S. Constitution intended: a head count.
A head count is one question and doesn’t mean count by category; no name, phone,age, DOB or tenure. They are not allowed to ask religion. The actual 2010 form asks multiple questions about race, especially hispanics. The American Community Survey is the one which has all the housing, health, income and commuting questions. Not every one will get the ACS this year. It is a separate thing.
Mine didn’t say anything about religion, but most of the questions were about race. And half of those were primarily concerned with what type of hispanic I was.
Personally I put “Euro-American” (even though I’ve never been to Europe) and the missus put “Human”. The rest we left blank. Expecting to see a census worker any day now to fill in the blanks. Hope they like dogs.
Just wait until doctors are told to slow down. If you don’t think that will happen, you aren’t paying attention. They will have to see more patients, but won’t be allowed to work more than 40 hours a week, so wait times will increase beyond your worst nightmares.
Now you can see why the post office is going broke.
I can’t find the exact figures for this, but I know they exist. Someone did a study that measured how many real (private sector) jobs were lost for each government job.
Some criteria have to be taken into account. Such as, those people do have to eat, so they buy groceries and that does increase economic activity somewhat. Same for buying a car, paying rent or buying a house, etc. In other words, the neccesities.
But once that is figured into the equation, there is still an amount of loss to the economy. If a private sector job is 100%, then what percentage of that is a government job? 40%? 50%? 60%? Maybe 30% or 70%, I don’t know. I’m sure someone has done that study, but I can’t find it. And you can bet it wasn’t done with a government grant.
i’M LOOKING FOR A BUMPERSTICKER MAKER. I HAVE HAD A HOMEMADE SIGN IN MY BACK WINDOW WHICH READS “W/O GREEDY EMPLOYERS, WHO NEEDS EMPLOYEES?” I WOULD LIKE TO GET THAT ON A BUMPER STICKER BECAUSE I GET A LOT OF COMMENTS WHEREVER I PARK FROM PEOPLE READING IT. ANY CLUES OUT THERE?
On April 4th, 2010 at 7:18 pm, cheapseat said:
http://www.makestickers.com
This is the same “gubmint” which will be running our healthcare.
Need I say more?
cheapseat-
http://www.zazzle.com they make everything. and i think their minimums are really small.
as a fed I was responsible for internet security and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. It was incredible just how much internet time was spent on news sites, shopping, ebay, and a host of other very questionable sites. I was constantly using the security software to block web sites from being accessed. Reports to supervisors went ignored since the same people were doing the same things day after day, week after week! Your tax dollars being wasted!
More Ministry of Truth bee ess. In other news, it was announced by Big Brother that War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength.
FIFY