Farming in Switzerland is still mainly dependent on family work. Nevertheless, non-family employment is gaining importance, and farm managers have to think about recruiting methods, since a labor shortage can be observed in this sector. Due to the lack of relevant data, little is known about the working conditions of employees in agriculture. In this paper, we descriptively compare the working conditions of non-family employees at farms to those in the hospitality sector, which has similar working conditions and is a competitor in employment for the agriculture sector. Based on this analysis, we use linear regression to examine which factors determine the duration of employment in these two sectors. We use data from a 1 % representative sample of the Swiss resident population (2015–2020), which is mainly characterized by regular employment. Hence, we provide insights into a specific, comparatively less-studied subgroup: persons who are permanent residents and therefore partially integrated into national labour market institutions. While our dataset does not capture all qualitative facets of job quality, it does measure several core dimensions consistently, including wages, contractual and actual working hours, timing of work, and indicators related to employment stability. These measurable facets provide a transparent entry point for describing job quality patterns among farm employees and situating them within broader debates on decent work and social sustainability, responding to growing attention to labor standards in agriculture. Our analyses identify four key challenges for non-family employment in the agricultural sector: the high proportion of already retired employees, low wages, long working hours and a comparatively low level of education. Further, the results suggest that a higher income and fixed working time models are positively related to longer employment duration in farming.