A report has found that about 320,000 Americans are working in the cannabis industry. This represents a more than 30% increase from 2020 figures, making cannabis one of the country’s fastest-growing sectors. This also means that the United States has more legal marijuana workers than electrical engineers, paramedics or dentists.
The marijuana industry has grown significantly since last year when cultivation facilities and dispensaries were classified as essential businesses by various states at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Published in partnership with Whitney Economics, the Leafly Jobs Report shows that in 2020, the industry added about 80,000 jobs to the market, which is almost twice what it added in 2019. It helps that more states across the country are also legalizing the use of the plant for both recreational and medical purposes.
Some Americans are re-evaluating their career prospects and jobs after the pandemic remodeled their working and social lives. Many are quitting their jobs in search of more opportunities for advancement, better benefits and consistent hours, which can be found in the legal marijuana industry.
Viridian Staffing chief executive of cannabis recruiting Kara Bradford stated that a shift of workers from restaurants and retail to marijuana has been observed, noting that there’s a sense that the industry has a lot of opportunities for advancement. The surge in marijuana hiring has put pressure on other employers to ease drug-testing requirements, especially in the District and the eighteen states where recreational cannabis use is legal. This is in addition to increasing pay, as the hourly rate at dispensaries is between $12 and $15.
Earlier in June, the second-biggest private employer in the country, Amazon, announced that it would support federal measures to legalize cannabis and stop screening employees for marijuana use. Other employers, including city governments, restaurants and retailers, have also removed these requirements in an attempt to attract workers in the current labor market where employment opportunities exceed the number of unemployed Americans.
Workers’ rights groups are also calling for broader unionization in the marijuana industry, noting that it is a crucial time to establish well-paying jobs that have proper protections. They assert that the marijuana industry could become a pipeline to middle-class jobs, with the right policies.
Cowen, a Wall Street research firm, revealed that sales of legal marijuana grew to $19 billion in 2020, which equates to an almost 60% increase. By 2025, the industry’s sales are expected to hit $41 billion.
Those growing employment figures take on an added meaning when one considers the rate at which companies such as Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC: HENC) are expanding and taking on new employees.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC: HENC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/HENC
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