Joblift examines the growing legal cannabis economy of the U.S.
San Diego, California. July 24th, 2018 — As the old saying goes, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” However, it may grow on marijuana plants. Medical cannabis is now legal in 30 U.S. states and, according to a recent study published by BDS Analytics, it is projected to be legal in 35 states by 2021. The analysis also predicts that by 2021, the sector will employ 414,400 people and generate $40 billion annually in profits. To gain better insight into this rapidly growing economy, job platform Joblift analyzed all 3,367 online postings for medical marijuana jobs from the last 12 months and found that overall growth in the sector is outstripping the national average. However, cannabis job growth in California — the state with the largest economy in the country and the first to legalize medical marijuana — is steadily declining.
Public Interest in Medical Cannabis Jobs Nearly Doubles in First Half of 2018
There were 3,367 total online job postings for medical marijuana-related positions over the period of the last 12 months. And the sector is growing at quite an impressive rate. There were 24% more job postings in the first six months of 2018 than in the last half of 2017. Comparatively, there were only 16% more job postings in the first six months of 2018 for the entire U.S. labor market than in the last half of 2017. Public interest in employment in the medical marijuana sector also continues to grow. Joblift has determined that Google users were 43% more likely to search for medical marijuana jobs in the first half of 2018 than in the last half of 2017.
With Twice as Many Job Postings in 2018, New York Could Rival California for Title of Top Cannabis Economy
The top three states in terms of total medical marijuana job postings from the last year are California (856), Florida (295) and New York (236). The following three states, however, are experiencing the most prodigious job growth: Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York. There were five times as many job postings (82 vs. 17) in Pennsylvania in the first half of 2018 than in the last half of 2017; four times as many job postings (84 vs. 23) in Massachusetts; and twice as many job postings (155 vs. 67) in New York. Interestingly, the number of postings in California decreased by 11% from 407 in the last half of 2017 to 363 in the first half of 2018 — an unexpected turn of events for the state that first legalized medical marijuana and is traditionally known for its powerhouse economy. Given that New York ranks third in the U.S. in terms of gross domestic product and is experiencing a surge in medical marijuana job postings, it may hold the most potential for overall growth in the sector.
Approximately 15% of Medical Cannabis Job Ads Targeted Towards Highly-Skilled Medical Professionals
The burgeoning medical marijuana economy will potentially create jobs for a wide variety of professionals, ranging from security officers to graphic designers, accountants and more. However, Joblift has determined that approximately 15% of the 3,367 postings from the last year were targeted towards highly-skilled medical professionals, i.e., physicians, nurses, pharmacists and so forth. Approximately 6% of all postings were targeted towards marketing and sales professionals. Delivery drivers also stand to benefit from the medical marijuana sector, as postings for the profession accounted for 2% of all postings from the last 12 months. While at present it seems that the industry favors highly-skilled workers, there are indicators that it will create opportunities across the board.
“The medical marijuana sector is one that everyone should keep an eye on,” says Matt Kopjak, Managing Director of the US Market at Joblift. “The medical sector in general is incredibly lucrative; medical marijuana should be no different. It has the potential to create employment opportunities for a wide variety of professionals and, based on our numbers, could prove to be a boon to the American labor market.”
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Joblift is a job platform that makes the hiring process intuitive and frictionless for both job seekers and employers. By using the latest machine learning techniques and big data-based algorithms, Joblift provides an optimal match between applicant and organization. Currently active in the US, the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, Joblift cooperates with over 4,000 partners to combine over 10 million job postings on our platform. Our highly energetic and entrepreneurial team is led by experienced founders Lukas Erlebach (CEO) and Alexander Rausch (COO), who most recently held C-Level positions at Zalando and Amorelie.