Page 20 - SKILLS - 2023

WHAT’S NEW IN SKILLS
We’re Going to Need You
Job Opportunities in Cannabis Are Coming
BY ROBERT BRUM
The newly legalized adult recreational marijuana industry is predicted
to begin delivering a crop of jobs — many of
which don’t require experience or
a post-secondary degree — across Westchester County by late 2023 or early 2024.
Free courses are available for finding an onramp into this budding industry and receiving the training required to land a job, especially in the retail sector that likely will comprise the lion’s share of the opportunities.
More than a dozen towns and villages, from Cortlandt to Rye, have opted to allow a mix of dispensaries
and onsite consumption, with five cities — New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Peekskill, White Plains, and Yonkers — approving both.
As license approvals began rolling out in early April, Westchester and the Mid-Hudson region anticipated a range of entry-level employment options requiring only a high
school diploma or equivalent, many estimated to pay above Westchester’s $15-an-hour minimum wage.
A sample of nationwide salary ranges indicates budtenders — the industry term for a staff member who works at a retail site — earn between $17 and $28 per hour plus tips, with delivery drivers making between $16
and $26 hourly plus tips. Positions in front-end sales,
packaging, manufacturing, and support staff are likely to be in demand for applicants with a high school background; customer service representatives, lab workers, and social media content managers may need prior work experience.
Workers in the industry’s supply sector — including cultivation, processing, and warehousing — will be needed to serve the retail sector, says James K. Landau of the Hudson Valley Cannabis Industry Association. Entry-level positions in that sector, such as bud trimmers, production technicians, packagers,
18 2023SKILLS What’sHot.What’sNext.What’sNeeded.
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