Tech: A Rising New Career Path in the Marijuana Business

As the recruiters at M&F Talent have seen, the global cannabis market is growing at an unbelievable rate. According to a recent study by Coherent Market Insights, the cannabis industry is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate of almost 25 percent between 2017 and 2025. As the industry evolves and more areas adopt marijuana legislation, the regulatory framework – and the companies that must adhere to it – will also change. Cannabis tech jobs (developers, testers, IT professionals, and so on) are of growing importance in the cannabis industry and may prove to be the backbone of any successful cannabis businesses. These positions also represent high-value searches to recruiters in the cannabis space.

No Room for Mistakes in the Cannabis Industry

To err is human, costly as it might be. Unfortunately, many young cannabis businesses cannot afford simple human errors. This is especially true considering that a mishap could result in license suspension, hefty fines, damaged brand reputation, or worse.

There’s certainly no shortage of entry-level cannabis career opportunities. However, the more of these positions that run with artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automation software, the less risk cannabis companies carry. Software programs that record, store, and extrapolate data; those that track seed-to-sale cultivation practices; and those that generally make cannabis business operations more manageable and more streamline are in high demand. Unfortunately, the developers needed to design cannabis tech (and the IT professionals who operate them) are few and far between.

Cannabis Tech Jobs Versus General Software Developers

Many financial institutions are reluctant to handle cannabis-related money. Likewise, many software developers are reluctant to take on cannabis industry projects. This could be due to reputation concerns, financial liabilities, compliance issues, and more. If software developers are not directly involved in the cannabis industry, they may not be ideal for CannaTech development.

Tech-savvy, passionate people with innovative ideas and industry insight are an excellent solution to the growing demand for cannabis tech. IT specialists working cannabis jobs understand evolving cannabis regulations, local market trends, and antiquated production practices. These low-liability positions with cannabis ancillaries are in exceptionally high demand. Automation technology improves business scalability which is especially important in an ever-expanding cannabis business marketplace.

There’s ample opportunity for companies to excel in the cannabis industry. Similarly, there is ample opportunity for technical career advancement in the cannabis industry. However, to remain relevant and thereby successful, marijuana businesses must build momentum while adhering to strict, ever-changing regulations in their service areas. Cannabis tech jobs offer an easy solution to scalable compliance issues. Recruiters, therefore, place heavy emphasis on technology experience regardless of cannabis industry history.