Remote cannabis jobs are rare. And whether it can be remote depends on the role and the company.
‘Can cannabis jobs be remote?’ is one of the biggest questions our cannabis recruiters get asked.
So much productive work gets done from home without the distraction of office semantics. And, to most people, the flexibility of remote work is incredibly valuable. So, “Do I really need to go into the office?” is such a valid question to ask these days.
But when you look at the cannabis industry stats, the answer becomes clear.
Almost 80% of the roles FlowerHire fills are roles where you need to be close to the product, and 20% are roles where remote work is possible.
So while cannabis has challenged many workplace conventions – like culture, dress code, hiring norms – business operations remain pretty traditional for more companies because they need to.
In the cannabis industry, remote work is rare. Here’s why.
Cannabis business happens where the product is
Cannabis is grown, processed, packaged, moved, sold, and regulated in physical places. Decisions affect what happens in a cultivation room, on a packaging line, or behind a dispensary counter. Decisions should be made by people who are at those physical places. Having decisions made by someone who has never been on site, or is rarely on site, poses a risk. Operations are connected, and being on site to understand the nuances of the entire operation is critical for success.
For example, let’s consider an inventory discrepancy. Physical inventory checks can mitigate risks. A report might show that the numbers don’t match. But figuring out why they don’t match can mean walking the facility, talking to the people who handled the product, and tracing what happened across shifts or departments.
If the packaging department has a problem, a leader may need to actually see the line, understand the equipment, and work through the issue with the team, in real time, in person.
And since regulatory requirements are critical for compliance, having actual oversight is essential for preventing costly mistakes. For example, dosing and packaging mistakes on products can have a big negative impact if not caught.
And while a lot of work can likely be done from video calls and reporting dashboards, actually seeing how the facility runs and hearing what people closest to the product have to say is invaluable for making impactful decisions. Pharmaceuticals and CPG manufacturing tend to understand this well.
Key point: Leaders who spend time on site make better decisions because they have better context.
The job function matters more than the company policy when it comes to remote work
It’s possible to work remotely in cannabis. For example, finance, accounting, legal, and some HR and technology roles often lend themselves to it, and these roles request remote work the most often.
These types of roles require long stretches of analysis and may even benefit from a quiet space away from a busy facility. Plus, some facilities may actually not have great office space for that kind of work.
Some jobs clearly require a physical presence. Retail and cultivation leaders need to spend time with the teams, products, and processes they oversee.
The harder calls are roles that can be done from a laptop but still depend on on-site knowledge of the business.
For example, a wholesale leader may not need to work from headquarters. But they still need to visit dispensaries, meet buyers, and understand what’s happening in their markets. A marketing leader may be able to work from home most days, while still needing time in stores and with field teams to see how customers encounter the brand.
Marketing is a good example of why broad “no remote” rules do not work. A lot of marketing work can be done remotely, with the exception of field marketing.
Field marketing depends on being in the market, building relationships, and seeing how customers encounter the brand and product. But even a remote marketing leader who’s not a field marketer needs to be able to have eyes on what’s going on in the field.
Key idea: When determining if a role can be remote, the better question to ask is, “What does this particular job require to be done well?” And, “What will make this role the most successful?”
The speed of the industry can make in-person necessary
Cannabis companies pivot and change direction fast. For example, a new market might open later than expected. Laws change. Regulation change. A leadership team shifts its priorities. In these types of high-stakes moments, a lot of useful information moves through conversations that were never scheduled as meetings. If you’re not at the facility, you will miss critical information.
This is especially important when someone is a new hire. During the first few months, an executive has to learn the company’s processes, the personalities, and the gap between how things are supposed to work and how they actually work.
Being on site makes it easier to ask a question at the right moment. It’s easier to get pulled into a conversation and spot a problem before it becomes a bigger one.
This doesn’t mean every executive has to be in the office 5 days a week forever. A company may find that the role can be more flexible once the leader has built relationships and understands the operation. But I would not assume a new leader can build knowledge entirely through scheduled calls once in the role. A hybrid role may be more appropriate at that point.
The best cannabis leadership training happens in the facility
Many cannabis companies recruit from within and are actively developing their upcoming team of managers. It’s really hard for a leader to spot which frontline workers have the most potential for growth and internal mobility.
Frontline teams need hands-on leaders who can coach supervisors, set expectations, and help people solve problems as they happen. It’s extremely challenging, and often less effective to do all of that in a weekly check-in.
For example, an executive might hear in a meeting that a production target was missed. Actually walking the operation may reveal the cause. Maybe a supervisor needs support, two departments are working from different assumptions, or a process that looks fine on paper is slowing everyone down.
The same is true across departments. A leader who knows the people in cultivation, manufacturing, compliance, and retail can connect business decisions and better understand their impact than decisions made in isolation. Those relationships often start with time spent together doing the work.
What experienced cannabis leaders know about remote vs. on-site working
In our recruiting conversations, candidates with deep cannabis experience understand the need to be in a facility or market. Executives coming from outside the industry can be surprised by it, and sometimes it makes them uninterested in the role.
Many new cannabis executives bring skills cannabis companies need. But deep experience in a remote corporate role does not automatically translate to a business where a large share of the workforce is deskless and operational issues are physical. It can be hard for us to understand how an executive will perform when they’re coming from remote work.
If you’re trying to enter the industry, it’s important to ask:
- Where do decisions get made?
- Which teams does this role support?
- How often do I need to see the product and operations firsthand?
The answers to those questions will tell you more than the words “hybrid” or “remote” in a job posting.
Will the cannabis industry ever become more remote?
In some functions, probably. Companies that have better systems, experienced managers, and clearer ways of working can have more room to offer flexibility. But a startup still building its processes may need its leaders together more often.
And never should a company require people to commute simply to sit on video calls.
But a large part of this industry will continue to happen in facilities, stores, and local markets.
People should be given as much flexibility as the work can allow, while still keeping leaders close enough to understand the business and support teams.