Shelton Hull
Words by Shelton Hull
With very few exceptions, the cannabis market in Florida has seen almost continuous growth since medical marijuana sales began on January 1, 2015 with the overall value now 10 to 15 times what it was back then. That trend is almost certain to continue, and the likely approval of recreational use on the November ballot will spike those numbers like nothing we’ve seen before. You can be certain that businesses of all types are making their expansion plans, and not just the established dispensaries, though of course they are.
The ancillary effects will be felt by a wide range of businesses in Northeast Florida and beyond, all of which will be hiring next year, and many of which will be hiring now. With summer being the busy season, almost all the dispensaries are hiring right now, and since you, the readers, are always asking me about that, this month we’ll talk about that in greater detail. All I ask is that if you apply, tell them I sent you, and if you do get the job, call me and tell me what it’s like.
The good news for jobseekers is that most of cannabiz keep their openings listed prominently, consistent with their general tradition of transparency. In many ways, it’s very much like any other retail gig; if you’ve ever worked at a mall, which was once practically a rite of passage for young Americans, you’ll be well-familiar. More good news is that most cannabis news websites now carry job listings, and the category is searchable on most general employment sites, as well as platforms like LinkedIn.
In all cases, it certainly helps to know the product, but it’s actually not that important because they all have their own systems and specialized language, which they’ll teach you. What is important, however, is having a clean driving record and, ideally, a spotless criminal record. With all the hundreds of millions being invested in this industry, the last thing they want or need is to have people trying to steal product or, worse, trying to game the system by running goods out the back door or under the proverbial table. I haven’t heard of anything like this happening here, but they’re all keenly aware of the possibility, and that’s reflected in the hiring process.
To take the most notable example, Trulieve is the state’s largest dispensary, and they basically paid to get recreational onto the ballot. They’re showing no concern about potentially losing market-share; indeed, they plan to continue reinvesting. They have hundreds of job listings on their website, both full- and part-time, dozens of which are within driving distance of wherever you are right now. For them, as with most other dispensaries, most of the open spots are for dispensary associates, which you might consider “front of house” in restaurant terms. They’re the ones consulting you on your purchase, working the register, etc. They’re the face of any dispensary, but just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of all the people needed at this scale..
The Ocala branch needs a general manager, which will probably be hired from within, as well as an executive director for marketing strategy and planning. They’re also looking for inventory managers (the folks in the back, behind glass, preparing the orders), as well as fulfillment associates, sanitation associates, shift supervisors, IT and maintenance techs, development engineers, warehouse and delivery drivers. That latter category is one that’s certain to expand.
As Trulieve goes, so goes every other company trying to keep up with them, which means that similar positions (which may or may not have similar names), will continue opening up among all their competitors, as well. The pay is generally good, but it’s still an evolving market, and wages should rise as profits increase. Even if it doesn’t pay that great, it still pays much better than being a mule or a corner boy or a lookout, and those were the only such jobs available 10 years ago, so I’d say that we’ve made pretty good progress already.
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