Vangst is a cannabis hiring platform that conducts an annual salary survey in the industry.
It has shared the results of that survey for the past 5 years. Vangst also hosts virtual cannabis career fairs. The survey comes out January the next year. After the Reviewing the 2021 salary survey I observed a few things that make me wonder about the effectiveness and cost of all the Cannabis Certificate programs at University and Community Colleges.
Will students get jobs in their area after paying $2250 for coursework?
The National Cannabis Industry Association conducted a survey of 396 U.S. cannabis operators and 37% reported that they are not profitable. In California, businesses operate legally but also under the capriciousness of local governments which are not always legitimate themselves. The LA Times calls it a “sprawling web of corruption” by government officials in cannabis licensing. The industry is resilient but students obtaining certificates are not always so resilient.
Searching the Vangst portal for cannabis jobs in LA, there were none. None we listed 50 miles outside of LA either. Of course, maybe jobs are listed elsewhere. Zip recruiter has cannabis jobs. Regardless, when new certificates are developed in California, jobs data must form the basis for the new offering. Cannabis certificates are a series of courses that are intended to create an advantage for a student gaining entry into an industry. Students are fragile nowhere more so than in California. According to Vangst entry level positions earn $17-22 an hour. With gas at $6 per gallon and few hourly workers driving EV’s the math does not make sense.
Cannbus Express
A Cannabus Express tour exists in Palm Springs CA. It is unrelated to any other CannaBus described in this column connected to the state of California ’s workforce development efforts. This is a classroom on 4 wheels! The tour website describes it as educational, exclusive, and entertaining. IT is a 3-hr guided experience introducing the industry from seed-to-sale. It is the first of its kind n the Coachella Valley. It is kitschy in the best and only way Palm Springs is.
