The cannabis industry is expanding at a rapid pace. According to the 2022 Leafly Jobs Report, there are currently more than 428,000 full-time equivalent jobs in cannabis, with an average of 280 new positions created daily.
In order to meet the demand for qualified and dependable candidates, several cannabis staffing and recruitment providers have emerged in the last decade. Promising to help operators and ancillary businesses alike, these firms offer everything from on-demand temp workers to highly-skilled executives.
We reached out to many of the leading staffing and cannabis recruitment firms to learn what makes each one unique.
Viridian Staffing
Service Area: Headquartered in Seattle, Viridian Staffing is a cannabis staffing firm that serves temporary staffing clients in all legal cannabis and hemp markets, coast-to-coast, and provides professional recruiting services to most international cannabis markets.
Specialty: Viridian began by focusing exclusively on the professional cannabis industry, recruiting for critical roles like growers, extraction experts, retail management, and the C-suite. They have since expanded their offerings to include temporary and temp-to-hire staffing solutions.
As one of the preeminent industry recruitment providers, Viridian has worked with small brands and multistate operators (MSOs) alike. Their client roster includes Willie’s Reserve, Cresco Labs, and Ayr Wellness.
In one sentence, describe what makes Viridian Staffing stand out from the competition.
“Founded in 2013, Viridian Staffing has enjoyed the distinction of being the cannabis industry’s original recruiting firm, and entering its 10th year in business, Viridian stands apart as the cannabis industry’s most experienced full-service staffing agency,” said David Muret, chief operations officer at Viridian Staffing.
Vangst
Service area: One of the leading cannabis career firms, Vangst works with clients and candidates throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Specialty: With several different branches of business, Vangst offers cannabis recruitment and staffing to candidates, including hiring managers of all levels.
Vangst’s GIGS temporary labor solution provides on-demand gig workers for short-term assignments at every level, from front-line cultivation to high-level accounting.
Vangst Vetted is the firm’s high-touch recruiting arm that works with companies for mid-level management jobs to the C-Suite, while the company’s executive search sector partners with clients to build out leadership teams.
In one sentence, describe what makes Vangst stand out from the competition.
“Our focus has always been on connecting great companies with great people so our industry can continue growing — we want to be a part of people’s career journey so we can all be proud to work in cannabis,” said Kelsea Appelbaum, vice president of partnerships at Vangst.
Highlite Staffing
Service area: Highlite Staffing is a full-service cannabis industry staffing agency operating in the majority of legal states. They are most active in the Nevada, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma markets.
Specialty: While Highlite Staffing offers customized industry placement for professionals, the company’s primary focus is entry-level, temporary labor. Highlite specializes in helping applicants make the transition into the industry by assisting them in acquiring their agents’ cards, education, and job placement at cannabis businesses.
In one sentence, describe what makes Highlite Staffing stand out from the competition.
“Highlite Staffing provides our employees with free education and certification from Cannabis Community College and encourages our employees to be hired by our vendors within 90 days so that they can catapult their careers and wages very quickly,” said Christi McAdams, founder of Highlite Staffing.
CannabizTeam
Service area: CannabizTeam places talent in all verticals in the industry, including cultivation, extraction, testing, manufacturing, retail, and all C-Suite roles across the U.S. and internationally. The firm has office locations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Portland, Phoenix, and San Diego. CannabizTeam also helps clients find great team members in Thailand, Europe, Puerto Rico, and Columbia.
Specialty: Its cannabis executive search division places talent on a direct-hire basis and focuses mainly on positions at the management to C-suite level across all aspects of the industry. The CannabizTemp division centers on high-volume talent on demand, with most candidates placed in temporary or consulting jobs in cultivation, warehousing, manufacturing, and retail staff. CannabizTeam also offers fractional consultant and executive recruitment for projects and long-term positions.
In one sentence, describe what makes CannabizTeam stand out from the competition.
“CannabizTeam is the talent marketplace for the cannabis industry, helping our clients build highly effective teams by using the best AI and technology that allows clients to interact with our team in real-time, making sure that each placement has the right skill set and aligns with the company’s unique culture, and utilizing access to over 300,000 candidates in our database,” said Liesl Bernard, founder and CEO at CannabizTeam.
FlowerHire
Service area: Since its inception in 2017, FlowerHire has achieved placements in 23 states. Based in California, the company has a dedicated recruiting team located throughout the country, with representatives based in markets such as Massachusetts, Florida, Michigan, and Colorado.
Specialty: FlowerHire works like an executive search firm that focuses mainly on salaried positions, management, and C-level recruitment. The firm works with several of the country’s largest cannabis operators, including Jushi and Eaze. In its six years in business, FlowerHire has placed over 1,000 jobs in cannabis with an average salary of over $100,000.
FlowerHire’s senior advisor’s arm assists cannabis companies in strengthening their human capital processes in order to bolster compliance, improve employee retention, and boost performance management efforts. FlowerHire’s “engin” software helps operators recruit top talent while empowering job seekers to find their dream industry job.
In one sentence, describe what makes FlowerHire stand out from the competition.
“Our focus on strategic roles and rich history in the cannabis space make us uniquely positioned to help businesses in all stages thrive,” said David Belsky, chief executive officer at FlowerHire.
THC Staffing Group
Service area: A recruiting firm focused on social equity, THC Staffing Group focuses on operations in states with mandates to prioritize ownership and employment for communities most impacted by the war on drugs. This includes California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
Specialty: THC Staffing Group specializes in filling management roles, particularly those that require bonafide cannabis expertise or creative leadership. Previous clients include Leafly, Supernova Women, and Vicente Sederberg. THC Staffing Group also offers hands-on human resources consulting for small companies that want to learn how to attract and retain diverse, qualified talent. The company’s mentorship program aims to empower social equity applicants through monthly sessions and tools to set them up for long-term success.
In one sentence, describe what makes THC Staffing stand out from the competition.
“The founders of THC Staffing — Danielle Schumacher and Shaleen Title — have been at the forefront of cannabis legalization since the early 2000s and were the first cannabis recruiters to center diversity, equity, and inclusion in staffing,” said Danielle Schumacher, co-founder and chief executive officer at THC Staffing Group.
