Ohio Is in Need of More Medical Marijuana Industry Workers

Ohio currently has more medical marijuana industry jobs available than people to fill the positions. Dispensaries and other marijuana businesses are expanding. With those expansions, comes more job openings.

One dispensary, Standard Wellness, had to search for cultivation specialists and managers out-of-state, Cleveland.com says. One of the issues is the lack of people available with experience in marijuana. In Ohio, where the industry is brand new — this isn’t surprising.

It’s important to mention that there’s no shortage of job applicants – people just don’t have experience in the industry for some of the positions.

Erik Vaughan of Standard Wellness said, “The biggest surprise has been the level of interest from the community for all of our job openings. For the six dispensary spots we recently opened, we had 190 applicants. In general, we’ve been getting about 20 to 30 applicants for every job opening we post.”

Robin Ann Morris of Mary Jane Agency said, “My advice is to take what you love and apply that skill to the cannabis industry. We‘re just waiting for more ancillary businesses to be formed so we can hire people in areas ranging from management, marketing, accounting and sales to chefs and security. It’s a parallel industry to corporate America. We’re going to need investors, educators, consultants, sales and marketing.”

Having experience with marijuana isn’t necessarily a requirement, but having a skill or experience in another industry that can be applied to the marijuana industry is. There are job openings in multiple aspects of the medical marijuana industry and its ancillary services, such as matching patients with the right certification doctors.

President of Ohio Marijuana Card, Connor Shore said, “We‘ve hired 15 people in the last month and we are at over 75 for the entire organization. Most are clinic staff and patient support staff, people who work in the clinics and at call centers. We’re interviewing for HR and finance positions right now. Like myself, I’m sure that other companies hire people who have a passion for cannabis or a connection, such as a family member who benefitted and it helped their quality of life. It helps to create a more engaged work environment when everyone has shared values, working toward a common goal.”

Having applied experience and skills that are necessary for performing various job duties in the medical marijuana industry can help those land a job in a new industry if they are looking to change their careers.