I have been working in the cannabis industry for a long time. I have a lot of experience. I'm a super hard worker, I'm positive, and I get along well with others. Ever since legalization in my area the industry has been very chaotic and going steadily downhill for workers as well as operations. Dropping market prices cause employers to take it out on employees, lowering wages, paying employees as independent contractors (meaning they don't need to offer any benefits, protections, or UI because you are an independent contractor).
Anyway, I managed to land a great gig 7 months ago as a main employee on a grow team that seemed to treat their employees great. We got paid well, there were perks, they didn't work us to the bone and respected our work/life balance. There were no official benefits, but it was also untaxed and cash in hand every week, so I rolled with it. My two primary managers loved me, the owner of the company loved me. I even occasionally went out and hung out with them/had a few drinks once in a while. I went above and beyond numerous times, doing things like working overtime (for regular pay), working on holidays when no one else wanted to (I worked Christmas Eve AND day alone), and even getting a a friend of mine a job when they needed quality people.
Two weeks ago I came in after my weekend and noticed a bunch of coworkers were MIA. my two main managers pull me aside before I even start working and let me know they had to let most people go, and were going to have to let me go as well. They claimed the primary investor had dropped out because the market for cannabis had dropped well below the range at which they could yield decent profits, and as a result our place of work had to scale way back and go down to a skeleton crew. They were only keeping 3 workers and the grow team manager. They said it was just people with seniority who were getting those remaining spots. This was a lie. Two of the three people had seniority. The third person was the friend I had gotten a job there a little less than two months before. They said they had already trained her at other locations during that time so she could fill multiple roles (bullshit).
To top it all off, they assured me they would have my back. They knew this was a rough blow, it sucked and wasn't what they wanted to do, and they were going to make it right. They said the owner had already lined up a job for myself and two other star employees at a sister facility. He was just finalizing details for it. I even SAW the owner that day before leaving and he assured me the other job was available, apologized for the shitty situation and gave me a hug when I tried to shake his hand.
Well, I'm sure you can guess where this is going. It's been a few days over two weeks without any real information, not making any income and not being able to collect UI because the company hired us all under the table. I reached out to the owner who I had been keeping in touch with to find out about work and asked him if he had any news. He responded right away (unusual for him) saying that he had just spoken with the other place and unfortunately they were cutting staff and not hiring new people at the moment because the market is bad for them as well (and said it had taken as long as it did because their owner is battling cancer and they have to run all decisions through him).
So here I am. I waited over two weeks hoping for this opportunity to come through and it bombed on me. I worked my ass off and was a model employee, only to be downsized and have my job be given to the friend that I got a job for because she is a good “trim mom”. I just moved into a new place. I spent the majority of my money on moving.
Never trust your fucking job, bosses, or the company you work for. I'm fucked. This came out of left field and now I have to go back to the drawing board, rewrite my resume, and go back to LinkedIn/craigslist for a miserable job hunt in an industry that is failing and as a result treats its employees like garbage. Most places want to pay growers 15, taxed, these days. I'd make more working at a fucking McDonald's but I'm 37 and honestly can't bring myself to work service industry again like I'm in my early 20s.
Fuck work. Fuck capitalism. Fuck the failing society I live in and most of all – fuck you Phil. You shouldn't have been running a business if you can't take proper care of your employees and are just coasting on investor money.
Edit: Posted this and realized how long it was. Sorry for the novel. I'm just in shock and angry and processing.