Farm Labor Contractors vs Human Resources Specialists: $58K vs $76K Median Pay

Farm Labor Contractors vs Human Resources Specialists: what changes?

Consider Farm Labor Contractors if you want to recruit and hire seasonal or temporary agricultural laborers. Consider Human Resources Specialists if you would rather recruit, screen, interview, or place individuals within an organization. Entry credentials differ: Farm Labor Contractors, no formal educational credential; Human Resources Specialists, bachelor's degree. Prior experience in a related occupation is typically needed for Farm Labor Contractors (less than 5 years).

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Farm Labor Contractors and Human Resources Specialists. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Farm Labor Contractors

National median pay (2025): $58,460
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; Prior related experience: less than 5 years; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: Prior related experience: less than 5 years.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Pay wages of contracted farm laborers.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 100

Know before you choose

BLS lists less than 5 years of related experience. This is normally reached through feeder roles, not directly from school.

See the full Farm Labor Contractors brief

Human Resources Specialists

National median pay (2025): $75,940
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 73,700

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Human Resources Specialists brief

How the national numbers differ

Human Resources Specialists has the edge on annual openings

Human Resources Specialists is at 73,700 annual openings, compared with 100 annual openings for Farm Labor Contractors.

Typical preparation differs.

Farm Labor Contractors: No formal educational credential; Prior related experience: less than 5 years; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing Human Resources Specialists: Bachelor's degree Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Human Resources Specialists has the edge on median pay

Human Resources Specialists is at $75,940, compared with $58,460 for Farm Labor Contractors.

Farm Labor Contractors has the edge on projected growth

Farm Labor Contractors is at 7.4% projected growth, compared with 6.4% projected growth for Human Resources Specialists.

46.9/ 100

Farm Labor Contractors

72.2/ 100

Human Resources Specialists

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Farm Labor Contractors vs Human Resources Specialists

Dimension	Farm Labor Contractors	Human Resources Specialists
Median pay (2025)	$58,460	$75,940
Pay percentile	44.8 percentile	66 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	7.4%	6.4%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	100	73,700
2025 employment	1,900	939,700
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; Prior related experience: less than 5 years; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	Bachelor's degree
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 4
Related work experience	Prior related experience: less than 5 years.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Farm Labor Contractors brief Read Human Resources Specialists brief

Farm Labor Contractors vs Human Resources Specialists: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Farm Labor Contractors

Human Resources Specialists

How the national numbers differ

Human Resources Specialists has the edge on annual openings

Typical preparation differs.

Human Resources Specialists has the edge on median pay

Farm Labor Contractors has the edge on projected growth

Farm Labor Contractors vs Human Resources Specialists

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