Direct payments are regarded to be a suitable instrument to safeguard jobs in the agricultural sector. Empirical findings cannot unambiguously support this expectation. We further empirically investigate this research question under weak identifying assumptions using a spatial regression discontinuity design. The Swiss direct payments system creates a discontinuous jump for the amount of public subsidies a farm receives. We find that additional 50,000 Swiss francs can generate a job for a female family worker. Male employment is not affected.