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Considering the fact that the cannabis industry is still in its infancy on the grand scale, it comes as no surprise that this industry is still facing a variety of challenges and setbacks.
One of the many challenges that the cannabis industry is currently facing is appropriate levels of workforce and dealing with potential layoffs.
Let’s take a look at California as an example. California has over 7,000 licensed cannabis businesses. At the beginning of the so-called green rush we saw many businesses spring up and quickly hire as many people were trying to get involved in the industry as quickly as possible. Now you have many businesses that are laying off workers due to a combination of the intense regulations, competing with the low prices of the black market, and high taxes applied to Cannabis transactions.
A handful of well-known and respected companies in the cannabis industry were not immune to the challenges everyone in this business is facing and have also had to face layoffs of their own as well. This past October, Pax labs laid off 65 people. Pax Labs is known for manufacturing quality vaporizer pens for cannabis consumption. In that exact same month, Eaze reduced its workforce by one-fifth, which was approximately 36 employees. Eaze is a delivery platform based in the San Francisco area.
The very next month even more prominent names in the cannabis industry suffered some setbacks. Both Flow Kana and CannaCraft let go of nearly %20 of their own workforce. MedMen lost 190 employees that same November or 20% of its workforce.
Now let’s not forget that we are still in the early stages of this industry and that we should anticipate challenges as it grows.
Consider this following data from Vangst. Vangst is known to be one of the top recruiting platforms in the cannabis industry.
– The cannabis industry is projected to create up to 414,000 jobs in the United States by 2021
– Between the years 2018 and 2019 there was a 79% increase in the total amount of available job opportunities in the cannabis industry and here in the United States.
– Projections show the potential for approximately 40% of the average company’s workforce to consist of seasonal employees and freelancers by the year 2020.
These are just a handful of examples that are backed by data that indicate the expected growth of the cannabis industry.
Here are some interesting bits of information when it comes to those applying for jobs in the cannabis industry and those looking to hire. This data is also from Vangst:
– Outside sales positions were the most applied for positions in the California cannabis industry. The most popular were the sales account manager positions.
– Sales, administrative, cultivation, and marketing are the top five most desirable positions in the cannabis industry that the majority of applicants desired in 2019.
– Marketing director and creative type positions in the cannabis industry where the most applied to positions in the state of Massachusetts the route 2019.
– The most sought-after cannabis industry jobs in the state of Nevada where those that were office administrative type positions in the year 2019.
– Packager positions are the most popular positions in the Cannabis industry in the state of Colorado. Jobs focusing around post-harvest duties received the most applications in the state of Colorado.
In summary, it is no surprise to see a degree of discomfort or growing pains as the cannabis industry begins to further proliferate. It is important to acknowledge and face these challenges while also looking toward the future with excitement as the data proves that there is still plenty of room for growth, profit, and the opportunity to help others in the cannabis industry.
This was a guest post by Noemi Gonzales.
