While the cannabis industry kicked off 2023 with just under 417,500 jobs.
And that's down about 2% from the 428,000 jobs it supported at the start of 2022.
This is unprecedented.
Cannabis is a growth industry because more and more states continue to legalize.
So the industry has consistently seen double digit job
growth every year for the past decade until now.
This doesn't mean that every state lost jobs.
Some states like Missouri, Michigan,
New Jersey and Florida added them but
others particularly mature markets lost jobs.
The most job losses about 12,600 came from California's
industry followed by Colorado which lost about 10,500.
Then Oklahoma which lost about 7200.
And because cannabis is federally illegal jobs are
not tallied by the Bureau of Labor statistics.
That's why firms like cannabis job platform banks and
in previous years legally have compiled them independently.
Shannon.
Ok.
So a lot of people may be wondering how is it even
possible for an industry that has
demonstrated consistent growth to have contracted?
Well, there are a number of reasons for this.
So the cannabis industry is of course subject to the same sorts
of pressures as every other industry and that includes surging inflation,
rising interest rates and capital constraints.
But that last bit, capital challenges is especially damaging to the industry.
Right now. I spoke earlier to Carson
Huston, founder and CEO of Banks. Take a listen to what she had to say.
We saw V C funding down 96%
year over year.
We expected some form of safe banking and legislation to pass
that did not go through investor sentiment is way down.
And so when businesses want to grow and open more locations and expand,
they need capital.
And so the number one reason that we're hearing that these layoffs are
happening is because of lack of capital investment is not flowing into the space
as the economy has grown, less certain investors are fleeing to less risky sectors.
As she said, BC funding is drying up.
Plus cannabis companies don't have access to the
same sorts of banking services as other companies.
And this has resulted in layoffs from many major cannabis companies industrywide.
But sure markets as she said have been especially hit hard
too because they've been dealing with
downward pressure on pricing amid oversupply
issues resulting from a pullback in demand post COVID competition from
the illicit market and over saturation of licenses in many markets,
especially ones like California.
Well, I know there are a lot of people that still want to get jobs in this industry.
So when might we see growth in the cannabis industry once again?
And also what could lead to the drive that?
Well, it's worth mentioning again,
that many markets are still hiring those that are ramping up in particular.
So if you're willing to relocate to working in cannabis,
there are opportunities now.
But on the whole, he
anticipates that job growth will kick off possibly as early as the summer.
Once cannabis companies have downsized sufficiently
and can return to profitability.
She also mentioned that the right legislation
could drive job growth especially in states,
battling with entrenched illicit markets.
Take a listen
right now.
People in New York are still purchasing
and consuming cannabis but they're not doing it
legally.
So there's jobs in cannabis right now, but
uh they're not regulated jobs.
And so we hope that as the adult use program rolls out there,
those jobs can move from the illicit market to the regulated market.
So according to banks jobs report New York's market currently supports
just over 2100 jobs but could support as many as 65,000.
It's a major growth opportunity.
Industry,
insiders and enthusiasts alike have bemoaned the slow rollout
of the legal market here in New York.
Even as the illegal industry booms,
the regulators have continued to defend a strategy that
they say prioritizes equity in a measured march forward.
Shannon.
Yeah.
Well,
we're definitely still seeing a lot of these stores open
up all over the city and all over the country.
So it will be interesting to see what happens and how fast it rebounds.