My Recruiting Blog

One government organization is creating thousands of Clearwater jobs and positions throughout the Tampa Bay area.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced that it will hire about 5,000 temporary employees in the Tampa Bay area to work on the 2010 census. The bureau is already recruiting for the positions, which are expected to last between five and 10 weeks.

The bureau has opened a total of five field offices in the Tampa Bay area, including two in Tampa, one in St. Petersburg, one in Clearwater and one in Brooksville. Each office is expected to hire about 1,000 workers.

Depending on the job they will perform, workers can expect to earn anywhere from $9 per hour to $16 per hour, with pay in the Brooksville office averaging $11 per hour, pay in the St. Petersburg and Clearwater offices averaging $13.25 per hour and pay in the Tampa office averaging $14.50 per hour.

The majority of workers will be responsible for visiting area homes to check the number of people in each residence and keep track of other demographic information. However, the bureau notes, employees also will be working for their own neighborhoods.

"We hire locally, and an accurate count means a fair distribution of money for your schools, road, neighborhood improvements and elderly care in your community," Marilia Matos, associate director of field operations for the Census Bureau, said.

The census itself is conducted every 10 years and is used to divide about $400 billion in federal funds to communities.

Based on recent figures, the Tampa Bay area could certainly use the additional jobs. Even though the area's unemployment rate has begun to decline, it remains well above the national average as more jobs are lost.

During October, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area saw its unemployment rate decrease from 11.8 percent to 11.7 percent, following an increase from 11.4 percent during September. Despite the decrease, the area's rate is still higher than the national unemployment rate of 10.2 percent.

The Tampa Bay area had a total non-farm employment of 1,157,200 workers during October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 1,158,000 workers during September and a 4.8 percent decrease from last year.

Labels: Clearwater jobs