Unlike many industries, the cannabis sector is still hiring during the pandemic. Yet the number of open positions has dwindled as layoffs become more common and many of the jobs that do exist are temporary.

Vangst, which runs the Gigs site for temporary pot jobs and recently launched a platform for full-time positions, is filling about 600 jobs a week. That’s a slight decrease from pre-Covid 19 levels earlier this year, mostly because companies are employing fewer in-store staff as they switch to delivery or curbside pickup. Meanwhile, the number of job candidates on the platform surged by 300% between March and April, according to Karson Humiston, founder and chief executive officer of Vangst.

“We’ve seen a huge uptick in candidates, and we’re seeing a large number of candidates coming from hospitality and retail,” Humiston said in a phone interview. “When our clients do pick up hiring again, they’re going to have access to a really strong talent pool.”

Of the temporary jobs that are being filled on Vangst’s Gigs platform, about half are replacements for employees who are unable to work and the other half are for normal seasonal work related to harvests or packaging, she said. [Read More @ Bloomberg]