Cannabis at Work, a Canadian firm founded in 2015 to advise companies on issues related to medical cannabis, has launched the nation’s first staffing agency to link cannabis employers with would-be employees, according to an Edmonton Sun report. Owner Alison McMahon said the firm is preparing for planned legalization in Canada in July 2018.
“We really saw an opportunity. We’re on a tipping point in the industry,” McMahon said in the report. “We’re going to need staff … The cannabis industry is quite literally growing in front of our eyes. I liken it to the dot-com boom.”
Positions include cultivators, sales, budtender, call centers, and accounting; many of which are transferable from other industries but “there’s still some education and experience” that ideal candidates might need, she said.
“Understanding how inventory is going to depreciate (due to moisture loss) in the context of talking about cannabis is going to be something a regular accountant probably hasn’t done,” McMahon said.
The company will charge cannabis companies a fee when it fills an opening and expects to see hundreds of vacancies over the next year. She estimated that 40 percent of the current industry workforce is in Ontario, which has 44 licensed producers.