In what might be looked at as an opportunistic development for jobless Americans who have been hit by one of the worst global recession to ever hit the world, a once-in-a-decade job opportunity is coming around.

Across the nation, 2010 census is gearing up to hire as many as 1.2 million temporary employees to carry out the decennial head count which is all set to begin in March. Most of the employment opportunities, some 700,000, will require workers to go knocking door-to-door for about 6 to 10 weeks from May to July, and try to find people who have failed to mail in their census questionnaires.

For the large-scale hiring project, over 3 million job applicants would be required, and the U. S. Census Bureau is looking to target unemployed workers to grab the jobs.

Census Bureau Director Robert Groves has shared that the agency is all set to advertise the vacancies across all possible unemployment offices as well as in the local media so that "everyone who needs a job knows about the job opportunities".

"We want to hire people in the neighborhoods where they'll work," Groves said. "We've learned over the decades that hiring people who know the neighborhoods, who know the streets, who know the lifestyles and the goings and comings of neighborhoods works better", said Mr. Groves.

People looking to apply for a temporary job with the census can call 1-866-861-2010 or go to the Census Bureau's official website.