Toronto
A new report says 32 per cent of Canadian cannabis retail employees hired over the last year already left their jobs and 24 per cent didn't even make it past their first month.
The data from marijuana analytics firm Headset also shows 56 per cent of these employees, known as "budtenders," who worked at any point in the last 12 months have left their jobs.
The report covers Canadian workers in Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan between June 2021 and May 2022.
Canada's 56 per cent turnover rate was one per cent higher than the U.S.'s.
Alberta retailers tended to have slightly better retention among new employees, but lost a higher number of tenured employees than Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
While the report did not share why employees were prone to leaving, the sector has spent much of the COVID-19 pandemic carrying out layoffs and facing stiff competition as the number of pot shops soared.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July14, 2022.
Feature image - Different kinds of cannabis are shown on display are seen during a media tour of a cannabis store in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, March 31, 2019. A new report says 32 per cent of Canadian cannabis retail employees hired over the last year have already left their jobs and 24 per cent didn't even make it past their first month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg.
