Liesl Bernard, Founder and CEO of CannabizTeam, recently spoke with Christopher Jones of MG Magazine about what’s ahead for the cannabis industry in the new year. The article makes predictions for a number of verticals within the industry, including money, cannabis jobs, products, retail, politics and competition.
“2020 will likely go down in history as a monumental year for the U.S. cannabis industry and a breakthrough moment for a plant that has been demonized and stifled for the better part of a century,” the article begins. “With voters in a host of states legalizing medical or recreational use (or both) in November, young markets in the Midwest and on the East Coast maturing, and a burgeoning consumer base nationwide, 2021 is shaping up to be a banner year for cannabis.”
Liesl’s predictions are focused on cannabis staffing and the cannabis job market in 2021:
- Cannabis has weathered the pandemic better than most industries, given one of the best ways to measure the health of an industry is to look at the number of jobs it creates
- Cannabis industry jobs employed 300,000 people in 2020 – we expect the number of jobs to double in the next few years as the industry matures and new states jump on board
- Cannabis salaries are increasing as legalization continues to spread and the demand for experienced leaders multiplies
- Cannabis careers in high demand include branding, supply chain logistics and manufacturing
- Professionals from other business sectors are becoming more comfortable with the idea of joining cannabis companies now that the vast majority of U.S. states have legalized cannabis in some form
- We expect Arizona, New Jersey and Oklahoma to be three of the hottest markets in 2021
“As states continue to legalize, the demand for individuals with experience in the cannabis industry is increasing, and because of that salaries are increasing,” says Liesl. “We’re seeing a huge uptick as each state needs to operate completely independently, and people with in-depth cannabis experience are still quite limited.”
MG Magazine is a trade publication serving legal cannabis industry professionals with analysis and information surrounding the people, plants, processes and products that fuel the unprecedented growth of the cannabis industry.
The article concludes with another quote from Liesl: “There’s still only 12 percent of the population that uses cannabis, so there’s such a huge opportunity for the industry. Just imagine what the market is going to look like five years from now and how sophisticated it could be.”
To read the Christopher Jones article in its entirety, visit: https://mgretailer.com/business/forecast-2021-cannabis-industry-experts-look-ahead/.
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