Salaries are skyrocketing in the cannabis market; Here's why

Added on 26 May 2021

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Salaries are skyrocketing in the cannabis market; Here's why

CannabizTeam, the world's largest cannabis-focused executive search and staffing firm, has released its latest Cannabis Industry Salary Guide for Q2 2021. This is the third edition of CannabizTeam's national Salary Guide, created to help clients and prospective cannabis employees understand real-time changes in the dynamic cannabis industry and make informed business decisions. The in-depth report covers hot jobs and hiring trends in the U.S. cannabis industry, top states for cannabis jobs in 2020, and national salary ranges for more than 60 popular cannabis positions covering 36 states.

According to data from Leafly, the U.S. cannabis industry currently supports 321,000 full-time cannabis jobs, a 32% increase from an already record number of jobs in 2020. With adult-use cannabis now legalized in 17 states and counting, the industry is poised to support 500,000 full-time jobs and top $35 billion in annual sales in the U.S. by 2024.

"The cannabis industry proved its strength and resiliency in 2020 and enters 2021 as the fastest-growing industry in the U.S.," says Liesl Bernard, CEO of CannabizTeam. "With so much hiring, growth, and investment activity, we're seeing a red-hot cannabis job market at the start of Q2 2021. The future is bright, and we look forward to our continued role in connecting exceptional talent with the cannabis industry's leading companies."

A few highlights from the Q2 2021 report:

Cannabis salaries are up across the board, with increased demand driving double-digit increases in compensation for experienced managers and C-suite executives. Salaries continue to increase above cost of living index due to competition and a shortage of employees with specialized cannabis experience or specific transferable skills.
Larger multi-state operators are increasingly recruiting from outside of the cannabis industry, bringing in talent from some of the country's largest companies including Pfizer, John Deere, Procter & Gamble, Bayer, Google, and Tesla.
Competitive demand for top cannabis talent continues to skyrocket in emerging adult-use markets including Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, New York, and New Jersey as hundreds of new licensees are building intra-state supply chains to serve ever-increasing retail stores.

Salary ranges in the Q2 2021 Salary Guide are based on CannabizTeam's proprietary salary data, salary surveys, and independent research from trusted sources collected through the end of Q1 2021.

To view the Q2 2021 Cannabis Industry Salary Guide in its entirety, click here.