There are now more cannabis workers than in these industries

With over 440,000 employees in the cannabis industry, it has overtaken these groups – but is still far behind the others.

In 2020, we predicted that the number of people employed in the cannabis industry (as an industry) would overtake computer programmers. And that's exactly what happened. There are currently 440,000 people working in the cannabis industry and 343,000 working in computer programming. While many computer programmers work for big-name companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Stripe, most cannabis workers work for small, family-run businesses.

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The economics of the marijuana industry are also positive, with jobs spread across the country and in communities of varying sizes. Most tech jobs are in hubs like Atlanta, Austin, New York City, and Seattle. Currently, the cannabis industry is at the mercy of Washington DC and the Biden administration while it waits for a rescheduling. Overall, the federal government is the largest employer in the U.S., with 2.95 million employees keeping operations running, which doesn't always make sense for startup industries.

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The cannabis industry lags far behind the retail and fast food giants. Its base is a mix of large companies and small businesses in nearly every community. 9.2 million workers are employed as retail clerks, cashiers, or supervisors, and 4,717,192 fast food workers bring you and prepare your coffee, burger, taco, and donuts.

According to some Seattle tech workers, computer programmers have reached the peak of their benefits during the pandemic and now have to settle for fewer benefits like the rest of the workforce. The average salary of a programmer is still $100,000, while in the cannabis industry it is $47,000. While there are significant differences in education and location, the cannabis industry still offers a good number of jobs in the country.

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In terms of numbers, the cannabis workforce is about the same size as Target (450,000), Kroger (420,000), and FedEX (480,000). It's much smaller than Amazon (1.6 million) and Walmart (2.3 million). There are nearly 1.9 million farmers and over 1.5 million real estate agents (members of the National Association of Realtors). And as for athletes, there are just over 35,000 working in all professional sports in the United States.