Census has long struggled with staffing shortages. Employees say Trump is making it worse

While the Census Bureau is best known for conducting the decennial count of every resident in the U.S., the agency continues to operate in years that don’t end in “0,” performing surveys that measure things like national unemployment and crime rates. 

Census employees, however, say their ability to collect the necessary data is being hamstrung by President Donald Trump’s government staffing cuts that are exacerbating longstanding workforce shortages at the agency and creating extra work that is taking a toll on personnel. 

“Morale is lower than the snake’s belly,” said one worker. 

The American Federation of Government Employees reported that Census’ workforce has lost at least 1,300 individuals since the start of Trump’s second term, mostly through deferred resignation and early retirement. 

According to data from the Office of Personnel Management, the agency had about 13,230 employees in September 2024. 

The Census worker said that her team is down to a quarter of its size, largely because of the freeze on federal hiring and a requirement that field representatives need four years of experience to receive a permanent appointment. 

“There are several steps once you get your initial hire as a field rep and you're not a full employee until you've been working for four years. So at any of those intermediate steps, [Census] interpreted it as a ‘new hire’ because you would change your status,” said the employee, who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution. “And rather than change status, they let people go.”

Field representatives are part-time and interview survey respondents. Hourly pay is generally $17 to $25, based on job postings and depending on location, and they do not immediately receive benefits like paid time off. 

One of the employee’s former coworkers said that he was performing a 180-day temporary assignment that he applied to renew. He was told, however, that continuing was not possible due to the hiring freeze. But after his service ended, the agency informed him that he can reapply. He’s currently waiting to hear back. 

“I honor the mission and the mandate of the Census Bureau to be collecting data that really has significant value. It's just kind of my own ethical concept of democracy, if you will. It’s important. I don't know if that sounds a little naive or stupid, but that's what it's about,” he said. “It's interesting work that I am happy to do, if they want me to do it. They can't decide.”

Census is currently hiring for 53 positions, according to usajobs.gov, including 18 field representatives. 

Because her team is understaffed, the employee said that Census has had to bring in employees from outside of the region. 

“Someone had to come [from two hours away] last month and get a hotel room. This is all added expense,” she said. “We don't have enough people, so they have to spend money on housing, room and mileage.” 

The employee also said that she’s resistant to taking time off because of the work that could build up. 

“Heck, I've got 40 sick hours, but I don't dare use them because there’s nobody to take up the slack,” she said. 

Staffing shortages at Census are not a new phenomenon. 

The inspector general for the Commerce Department, which is the parent department of the bureau, issued a report in March that the agency from fiscal years 2019 through 2023 missed field representative staffing goals for three major surveys. The watchdog faulted Census for not developing a workplan to address the gaps; although, officials then committed to crafting one. 

“If the bureau does not recruit and retain enough quality employees for FR positions, it will not have sufficient and capable staff to complete interviews and collect social and economic data the federal government, businesses and other groups need,” the inspector general wrote. 

Likewise, the Census employee is concerned about the continued reliability of the agency’s work. 

“I think the bottom line is that the fewer people we have, the less real geographic coverage we have. There are just so many ramifications of not having adequate staffing…and having to pull people in from other places,” she said. “There's a lot of ramifications for the amount of data that can be collected and the validity of that data.”

Census did not respond to a request for comment, however, it did report in its fiscal 2026 budget that it plans to make “more efficient use of existing personnel resources and funding” and “streamline operations.” 

“By the end of fiscal 2026, the Census Bureau will have eliminated functions that are not statutorily mandated or core to the Bureau’s mission while providing high-quality, efficient delivery of statutorily required functions,” the agency wrote. “The Census Bureau will have consolidated areas of the agency that are duplicative; consolidated management layers; and continued to implement technological solutions that automate routine tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value activities.”