Cannabis Industry Experiencing Reduction in Candidates
As the Industry continues to expand and new Adult-Use and Medical licenses are available in several states, Cannabis business owners are faced with the same scenario as every other business owner faces today: a reduced work force.
Whether you are looking for inexperienced or experienced candidates, a huge portion of the U.S. workforce has disappeared over the last 18 months. Some of them had time to develop their dream of being an entrepreneur over the “lockdown” and found ways to sustain their personal budgets. Who doesn’t want to work for themselves, right? Other families found that they could sustain themselves on one salary instead of two with the rise in childcare costs. And the last group of folks, just aren’t leaving the job they have – they need and want the security of staying put. It does not matter why, it just is. And employers must make concessions to deal with it.
The candidate has the upper hand right now! If you are having a hard time finding people to fill your open positions, try being a little more creative and consider using incentives for the right person. Sign-on bonuses are great but only get you so far. You can’t give them a sign on bonus and then try to pay them $12.00 an hour, it won’t fly, and your turnover rate is going to cripple your business. They will need and want and probably demand more. Raise the minimum to $15.00 at least, for non-experienced candidates. Consider adding benefits like health insurance and PTO (paid time off) or vacation and holiday pay for all your employees. Maybe include goal-oriented bonuses.
Is employee retention an issue? You may need look inside “your own house”. Why aren’t your employees happy and why are they leaving? Note: Happy employees don’t leave. Do you pay them well? Do they have sufficient time off each week? A happy employee needs two consecutive days to unwind. What is the team’s morale like? Do you work hard and play hard or just work hard? Do you offer employee incentives to do better or bonuses when they do?
Time is money and employers are complaining that they spend time holding job fairs or open hiring events and have no one show up for them. Our advice to these hiring managers, try using a recruiter. Candidates that work with recruiters really are looking for jobs and not just ways to fulfill their weekly unemployment applications. Our candidates are all pre-vetted, so we already know who they are and what their qualifications are. They are also ready to interview – no ghosting!
Speaking of ghosting, while candidates, YOU do have the upper hand right now, don’t abuse it! Poor or unprofessional behavior, ghosting and bait-and-switching (earning the interview based on you applying for a job with a particular salary range and then getting to the interview, demanding something else) will not be tolerated! This is your time to shine – your skills and past experiences can earn you more now than it might have just 18 months ago, but you still need to put the work in to get the job and then to keep the job.
If you are looking are a business owner looking for help in finding that perfect candidate or the candidate looking for that perfect job, HempStaff’s Business Developers and Recruiters are one click away from helping you save time and money. Those empty positions are costing you money and probably some employee morale (carrying an extra load because you do not have enough staff is not pleasant) so let HempStaff help today with finding cannabis candidates!
