We do have test results available for our patients. But yeah we dont print it on the label/packaging. Arizona like many of the other states that are only medical dont have the volume and money to pay employees like these labs operating in California and Denver. That doesn’t mean because our techs get paid 17 an hour they aren’t hard working and attentive. With experience you get paid more but for the first couple years under or at 20/hour in arizona is what we’re working with.
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My company does offer direct deposit, insurance, paid vacation and sick time.
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I’m in no means saying you don’t work hard or you can’t find hard working employees for that pay. I am arguing they need to be paid more especially when Arizona dispensaries are technically non profits and make money hand over fist.
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Hell yeah man that is awesome! So many don’t. Especially in CA.
It makes it easier for sure. I am a believer in the saying “employees first” (within reason). I also have a Masters Degree in Organizational Development & Leadership and have tons of experience in engagement, motivation, management, leadership, hiring, staff development, and team development. So it makes it a little easier to find talent as I can get creative with how to keep folks engaged as they grow their pay.
Unfortunately so many cannabis employers simply look at the hourly wage without regard to all the other traditional benefits and how that impacts an employees take home pay and personal life. Too many get caught up in the “who wouldn’t want to work in the industry” mentality and start thinking its some sort of privilege or something and employee’s should just be happy they get to work with cannabis.
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Yeah man I agree. That’s just the reality of the industry right now in Arizona.
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All this talk of $17 and up an hour makes me a little jealous! Lmao I’m over here making $16.50 an hour in a lab in Oregon making oil with improper equipment and came to the company with all my own knowledge and when something needs replaced I often do it myself.
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That’s the problem the pay continues to be that low because employees are just happy to be “working in the industry”. Running a lab should be a livable wage imo for the skills it takes if your putting out quality products $17 an hour is not very good.
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What is a good starting wage for someone with no experience no degree in your opinion? I feel like you think theres should be a set standard for how much lab techs get paid in the industry when you need to look at it in the eyes of these business owners and how much they are actually able to pay their employees in these different markets. I dont know if you’ve ever been to Arizona but 17 an hour is by far a livable wage. And like i said we’re paying guys 17 bucks an hour that have no experience and no degree. They would be flipping burgers if they weren’t in the lab so why do they deserve 25-50 an hour like the rest of us that have been cranking product out for years. You cant be entitled about pay no matter what industry you’re working in theres always someone that will do the same work for cheaper. Yes theres a stress factor of working with expensive product and dealing with harmful solvents but you have to start somewhere.
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This.
If you want to make more money, quit being an employee and start being your own man.
As an owner of multiple businesses, I refuse to have employees. They cost far more money than just their payroll. Instead, I empower people to form their own businesses that I can subcontract out.
In my experience, most small business owners aren’t paying their employees less out of greed, and if they are it’s because they are incredibly ignorant of how business works and they are set for a failing course. In this industry, most of them are paying marginally better than minimum wage because that’s what they can afford as they slowly go broke…
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In my lab we pay our extraction techs between 17-20/hr. Keep in mind this is in the SF bay area with some of the highest cost of living in the world. I believe a large part of why we’ve been able to get good employees is the appeal of working in cannabis. Also, it is a pretty fun job. A lot of the job is packing tubes and cleaning but at the end of the day you’re still working in a legal cannabis lab making some dope product, tons of people will do the job for that pay. I have a bachelors degree in chemical engineering and I started out at 20/hr. However, a large reason why I took a somewhat low pay is becasue I was one of the first hires and believed I could advance in the company and industry. I think as the industry in CA matures the pay for extraction techs will go up some.
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you should just change your name to the truth!
Thats definitely rough man you should be paid more. If they can’t pay more wages they should compensate via ownership in the company to make up the difference.
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I think wether pay is considered low is a contextual question and location is a major consideration. I think $14/hr in New England is pretty low, especially if you’re living in CT or MA. I 'm in Oregon and trimmers at legal farms can make 12-15/hr. Extraction technicians range from 15-17.
As far as how long it will take until pay compares to pharmaceutical jobs, no one can truly answer that. I worked in pharma for many years, not all jobs pay well - generally QC entry positions doing wet chemistry or instrumental analyses pay 15-18/hr There are benefits though, if you are a direct hire and not a permatemp.
I would actually recommend to fresh chemistry graduates to wait to come into cannabis until after getting 1-2 years professional experience in a lab in some regulated industry like pharma, oil/gas, biotech, environmental testing etc. Those type of environments expose a new graduate to things like standardized processes and process validations, SOPs, worker health and safety, lean manufacturing, quality control, regulatory compliance - areas I think the industry as a whole has opportunity to improve.
Generally chemistry type jobs don’t pay great, but don’t pay terrible. There are far more lucrative careers than doing lab work. I think there’s something to be said for currency inflation too.
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Appreachiate it @Shawn @Soxhlet definetly b asking 500 a day from my new bis partner hope he dosent read this thread 20 per hr smh
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$500/day is a lot of cash. You must be pulling 4X+ that for the company.
Do you help with equipment purchases? Sales? Licensing fees? Rent/Mortgage?
All that coming off the profit from $5/g.
I know that I would be offended if someone asked me for that after all I went through to put up, fund and execute on a fully licensed operation. You would need to have some serious cash following you in order for me to consider $500/day.
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As a consultant for UFCW, I was disheartened to learn that a majority of cannabis workers are making 12-14 an hour that includes extraction techs with chem degrees. My advice is to evaliate upward mobility, becausr that’s the carrot that gets dangled around most.
Edit: I’d love to find an employer ready to set the standard for workers.
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California cannabis companies with 20 or more employees (10 in SF) are supposed have labor peace agreements as part of the licensing process. I doubt most have signed with a particular union, but they should at least have a binding agreement to not interfere with organization efforts.
If I were you I would start your outreach with the larger companies and work from there.
The way companies are forming they are strategically splitting their operation to stay under 20. The Labor Peace Agreements are garbage and I have seen hundreds of workers fired while the company owners and union organizers continue to shower eachother with dinners and gifts in violation of the NLRB & ALRB Acts. It would be great if the state enforced that clause when permitting, but we have yet to see a single case of this. The problem isn’t one of effort, thankfully we have the Teamsters and UFW jumping into the fold and together I think we can get a spark going.