Herdsperson

The employment outlook will be Moderate for specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators (NOC 84120) in Alberta for the 2025-2027 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

• Occupations in agriculture continue to be in demand due to difficulties with recruitment and retention in the sector.
• Employment in agriculture has been on the decline since 2014, decreasing by 42% from 2014 to 2024.
• The risk of extreme weather may cause financial hardship for some farm operations and impact employment opportunities.
• Demand for this occupation is driven by global demand and trade for food commodities. Some food commodities are currently tariff exposed and subject to economic cycles.

Here are some key facts about specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators in Alberta:

• Approximately 5,950 people work in this occupation.
• Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Agriculture (NAICS 111, 112, 1151, 1152): 80%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 75% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 25% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 55% of specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators work all year, while 45% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 40 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 17% of specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 71% compared to 53% for all occupations
  • Women: 28% compared to 47% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 32% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 36% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 9% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 14% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 7% compared to 21% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations