Job prospects Social Worker in Alberta

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "social worker" in Alberta or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Alberta

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be moderate for Social workers (NOC 41300) in Alberta for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Here are some key facts about Social workers in Alberta:

• Approximately 6,900 people work in this occupation.
• Social workers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Social assistance (NAICS 624): 38%
  • Hospitals (NAICS 622): 18%
  • Provincial and territorial public administration (NAICS 912): 13%
  • Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621): 7%
  • Nursing and residential care facilities (NAICS 623): 7%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 90% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 10% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 76% of social workers work all year, while 24% 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 46 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of social workers are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 16% compared to 53% for all occupations
  • Women: 84% compared to 47% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: less than 5% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 12% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 56% compared to 21% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 28% compared to 9% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "social worker" Social workers (NOC 41300) or across Canada.

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