The U.S. Census Bureau’s planning for the 2030 census includes multiple phases. As part of the development and integration phase, the bureau will conduct its first census test in 2026, which is a trial run of activities and operations to help prepare for the decennial census.
Conducting a census test requires recruiting and hiring temporary employees, such as enumerators, census field supervisors, outreach assistants, and census trainers. For the 2026 Census Test, the bureau’s Field Division planned a more thorough approach to preparing the staffing estimates than had been done in the past. According to Field Division management, it decided to develop a more detailed staffing plan because of proposed scope changes to field infrastructure and hiring that require robust staffing estimates.
Our audit objective was to assess the bureau’s staffing plans and progress in meeting workforce hiring goals for the 2026 Census Test. We found that the bureau did not finalize its staffing plan for the census test. The bureau expected to finalize and approve the staffing plan and cost model by January 31, 2025, but did not because (1) data needed to prepare the plan was received later than expected or had not yet been provided and (2) the bureau did not have a procedure that documents staffing plan requirements and methodology to ensure workforce planning is done in a consistent and timely manner and according to management’s expectations.
We made four recommendations to help the bureau improve its workforce planning and field staffing operations for the 2026 Census Test.
