MJBiz - September 2023 - 35

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Karson
Humiston
cannabis executives would be wise to
remember them:
* This is an employers' job market.
* Generally, jobs are being lost in
mature state markets but gained
in new markets, resulting in an
eastward migration of cannabis
workers.
* The most vulnerable jobs are in
middle management, human
resources and marketing, while
hourly workers are in most
demand.
* Many cannabis businesses are
turning to temporary workers and
part-time executives to replace
full-time employees.
to lay off workers, Vangst reported.
The fi rm found there were 417,493
cannabis industry jobs (both planttouching
and non-plant-touching) in
early 2023, a drop of about 2% from the
428,059 jobs the fi rm tallied the same
time last year.
The days of the " Great Resignation "
seem a distant memory now. Recruiters
report that fewer cannabis businesses
are posting jobs, and many industry
workers fear for their job security.
" The tables have totally turned, "
Vangst CEO Karson Humiston said.
" The days of candidates demanding
double their salaries (not to leave a
company) are over. "
At the same time, there are reasons
to be hopeful that the cannabis
industry could resume its place as the
job-producing juggernaut it was not
long ago.
" We are defi nitely seeing some
layoffs in certain states, but it's
defi nitely not all doom and gloom.
We're seeing a huge surge of hiring in
the states that just became adult use,
like Maryland and Missouri. All those
eastern states are hiring, " said Liesl
Bernard, CEO of CannabizTeam, a
national recruiting fi rm headquartered
in San Diego.
Amid the uncertainty and tumult,
a few labor trends have emerged, and
* Observers hope the silver lining
to the labor downturn is that
business leaders will become
more deliberate about workforce
planning.
EMPLOYERS' MARKET
In the current labor market, employers
have leverage over employees,
observers said.
" Companies have a lot more choice
as far as top talent is concerned. And
a lot of companies are using this
opportunity to upgrade their bench
and look at their team, saying, 'Where
do I need more fi repower? Where
should I add executives?' Because
they're easier to fi nd in the market
right now, " Bernard said.
At the same time, as companies lay
off more people, they in turn demand
that surviving workers do more,
observers said.
" We're seeing many companies
revert to earlier years, when executives
wore three or four hats rather than
having one specifi c job function. For
example, someone who only handled
Metrc for their entire organization now
may be doing Metrc, quality assurance
and compliance. What were three
positions 10 months ago have now been
rolled into one, " said Kara Bradford,
CEO of Seattle-based Viridian Staffi ng,
a national cannabis recruiting fi rm.
Fractional Executives
Are Trending
A handful of marijuana
companies are using fractional
executives-or part-time
leaders-rather than hiring fulltime
execs. Examples include
chief fi nancial offi cers and
chief marketing offi cers who,
rather than working full time for
one company, work for a few
companies one or more days per
week.
" It's a way for these companies
to access great talent, great
expertise, but they don't have to
pay that full-time salary and the
excess cost of benefi ts, " said Liesl
Bernard, CEO of recruiting fi rm
CannabizTeam. She added that
fractional work allows companies
to hire-and fi re-more quickly.
Fractional work enables some
executive-level talent to work
at a similar salary level but with
added variety because they
have multiple clients. " And if
you have three or four of these
gigs going on, you can make as
much or more than in a full-time
situation, " Bernard added.
For example, TerrAscend Corp.
uses CannabizTeam for full-time
and fractional executives as well
as temp workers. For the MSO's
recent uplisting to the Toronto
Stock Exchange, TerrAscend
tapped CannabizTeam to
fi nd accounting and fi nance
professionals with administrative
and transactional expertise.
As the company moves into
newer states, it is using temp
workers to ramp up quickly and
then will decide which ones to
keep full time, Bernard said.
She added that staffi ng fi rms
working with executives seeking
fractional work will often handle
contract negotiations for the
candidate. Benefi ts for fractional
executives are uncommon, since
staff ers typically need to work
at least 30 hours per week at
the same place to get benefi ts,
Bernard said.
- Omar Sacirbey
mjbizdaily.com | September 2023 35
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MJBiz - September 2023

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