- Pierce Fenwick, Staff Writer
Legal Cannabis Hires 64,000 in 2018, Bumps Total to 211,000
If all new workers hired into the legal cannabis industry in 2018 went to see the Chicago Bears play football at Soldier Field (capacity 61,000), 3,000 of them would have to stay outside in the parking lot.
We didn't make that up - blame Bruce Barcott over at Leafly ("As of 2019, Legal Cannabis Has Created 211,000 Full-Time Jobs in America")
Here are some highlights:
There are now more than 211,000 cannabis jobs across the United States. (This total increased to 296,000 jobs when ancillary employees are included, says NORML.)
The cannabis workforce increased 21% in 2017
It gained another 44% in 2018
We expect at least another 20% growth in jobs in 2019
The total job growth in the legal cannabis industry is more than 110% in cannabis jobs in just three years**
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't count cannabis jobs... something about Prohibition... but it recently compiled a list of the industries with the "fastest-growing employment figures".
Over a period of TEN YEARS, jobs for:
Health care aides are expected to grow 47%.
Wind turbine technicians are expected to increase 96%
Solar voltaic installers is expected to grow 105%.
What was that cannabis industry job growth figure again? Oh, right, 110% growth in cannabis jobs in three years.
OK a few more, because this is fun:
How do 211,000 jobs compare to other industries?
112,000 Americans are estimated to currently work in the textile industry
52,000 people are employed by the coal mining industry.
California (67,000 jobs)
Washington (47,000 jobs), and
Colorado (44,000 jobs).
One can download Leafly's "Special Report:Cannabis JobsCount", which is completed after an exhaustive study in partnership with Whitney Economics.
IMAGE SOURCE: Leafly, and NPR