The legal commercial cannabis industry employs between 2 000 and 4 000 people and there is a growing need for credible talent. That’s the view of Ninth Wave cannabis recruitment and specialist Lourie Campher who says the number of people working in the largely illegal retail ‘Grey Zone’ is anybody’s guess, but is far larger.
As the ‘Grey Zone’ becomes more formalized, the cannabis jobs market will become more corporatized.
Campher shares his thoughts in this Q&A with Cannabiz Africa publisher Brett Hilton-Barber.
BHB: How would you describe the current state of the cannabis job market?
LC: The South African cannabis job market is slowly but surely growing in all sectors. As there are more facilities being constructed within South Africa, the need for credible talent will inherently grow. On the other side of the spectrum, as the grey market evolves with more and more shops and dispensaries opening up, you will see an increase in the need for sales and marketing positions.
BHB: How does Ninth Wave work?
LC: Ninth Wave operates the same as any conventional recruitment agency, from a client perspective it starts with the client filling in our onboarding documents as well as a Job Specification Sheet. We use the Job Specification sheet as the basis for sourcing candidates for each position that requires fulfilment.
Once the candidate has been vetted and verified, we start the interview process along with the client and that could be anywhere from one interview to four interviews depending on the level of position and the internal vetting that the client would like to do.
Our commission structure is the same as any other recruitment agency where we charge a percentage of the candidates cost to company for 12 months as as our commission which is a once-off payment once the candidate is hired.
BHB: Do you have an idea of how many people are employed in the cannabis and hemp sectors – in both the regulated and unregulated sectors?
LC: I would say within the commercial market you would look at anywhere between 2000 and 4000 people based on the amount of facilities in the country and the amount of positions available in these facilities ranging from general labourers all the way to senior personell. In the grey market if you look at the amount of outlets currently open between social clubs and dispensaries it could be anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000.
BHB: Which jobs are most in market demand?
LC: Senior personnel including experienced growers, quality control and quality assurance personnel and responsible pharmacists.
BHB: Is there any guiding structure to salary scales yet?
LC: We try and advise our clients to the best of our abilities but each facility has its own nuances when it comes to the scale of their operation, their cash flow and where they are within the industry.
BHB: Is the sector developed enough to offer ‘career paths’?
LC: It is, if you are specialised in a specific field. This industry is built upon specialists. No facility would hire you if you are going to be cutting your teeth on the back of their business. They are looking for people who are motivated, professional and can deliver what is promised to them.
BHB: What’s the highest salary one could expect in corporate cannabis SA?
LC: Senior personnel can expect salaries hovering around R60,000 plus depending on their qualifications, experience and expertise. There could also be added benefits like housing, car allowance etc.
BHB: What can the head of a medical cannabis grow op earn as opposed to the manager of an industrial scale hemp farm?
LC: Unfortunately, hemp is not as developed in South Africa and globally, we are not getting a lot of request for hemp placements. We believe that sector of the market is still heavily underdeveloped both from a local cultivation standpoint and the international appetite for hemp based products.
BHB: What’s the guiding salary for a budtender?
LC: I can’t help you there – we deal with positions only in the legal commercial sector.
BHB: What skills sets are a minimum for anyone wanting to get into the cannabis industry?
LC: An understanding of growing cannabis in a commercial setting, the scale of these facilities is unlike anything a recreational grower has ever experienced, from a management and a labour point of view. It involves a lot more structure, standard operating procedures and documentation. The ideal candidate would be someone who has an appetite for that kind of work not only the cultivation but everything that goes along with it.
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