The 2025 Vangst Job Report illuminates a growing trend across mature audlt-use cannabis markets: job loss.
The licensed cannabis business saw a 3.4% decrease in employment, losing 15,000 positions to reach 425,000 workers in 2024, despite a 4.5% growth in revenue to $30.1 billion. “People in Oregon simply aren’t making it anymore because we have so many licenses and so much excess. It’s very difficult to add workers when you’re fighting just to survive.”
Emerging regions like Maryland, New York, and Ohio are seeing job growth, while many cannabis companies in developed markets are laying off employees. 743 new adult-use marijuana licenses were issued in New York, resulting in a 209% increase in employment.
However, developed markets—California and Illinois in particular—are seeing sharp drops: A crowded market and hefty taxes caused California to lose almost 4,000 employment. Due to competition from other states and high sales taxes, Illinois saw a 25% loss of jobs. Whitney stated, “People simply aren’t making any money in this space anymore.”
“People simply run out of money, and it takes a long time to get a license and approvals.”
White Ash Group examined cannabis sector workers’ earnings in a different research. According to “The 2025 Cannabis Industry Salary Guide,” a report by a Toronto-based employment and recruiting agency, compensation for marijuana workers in the US can be up to 20% higher than those in Canada, particularly in emerging areas.
According to Graydon Welbourn, managing partner and co-founder of White Ash Group, “things are settling down because it’s been legal in Canada for a long time.” “It is still regarded as an exciting green rush opportunity in the United States.” He added that a higher cost of living in the US is another reason for the higher compensation.
In the United States, salaries for leadership positions have risen by 10% to 15% since 2023, particularly in markets with strong demand, such California and New York. While newer East Coast cities like New Jersey and New York provide substantial equity incentives to recruit top talent, Western U.S. locations like California and Colorado offer slightly greater base wages.
Location also affects salaries. In California, a master grower can anticipate earning between $95,000 and $125,000; in Colorado, the range is between $75,000 and $95,000. Retail store managers in California make between $70,000 and $95,000, while those in Arizona make between $55,000 and $75,000. In California, entry-level bartenders make between $17 and $23, but in Colorado, they make between $15 and $18 per hour.
As Canada’s cannabis producers concentrate on international markets, the country is witnessing an increase of positions abroad “Because the supply chain is more complex and the laws are different, positions in international business development have a different pay structure than similar positions domestically,” Welbourn explained. Many businesses simply grow flowers for other nations; they don’t even attempt to sell them in Canada, according to Welbourn.
