Sundial Growers Inc. is advertising for about 70 jobs for Phase 1 of its Olds cannabis production facility this week.
Phase 1 is expected to begin operation this June or July in the industrial park, near the cemetery .
And more jobs will be offered after that, says Keith Rockley, the company's human resources consultant.
Recruitment will continue for another couple of pods which may become operational this August or September.
After that, recruitment will likely continue into next year for their remaining modules -- pods 4 through 6.
Rockley and Rita Rietze, the company's talent management consultant, made that announcement during a discussion of jobs available in Olds, held Wednesday, April 25 at Alberta Works, in the Ralph Klein Centre.
Sundial is one of at least three -- and possibly five -- cannabis production companies setting up shop in Olds or looking at doing so.
Rockley said it's difficult to pin down exactly how many jobs the company will need overall, but he said it will likely be in at least the 500 range.
He said the company will be looking for cultivation staff (growers and defoliators), as well as staff to oversee irrigation and transplantation. Other jobs include trimmers, sanitation workers, harvesters, quality assurance staff, crop management employees, and facility maintenance staff.
"It is from one end of the spectrum to the other. From a career perspective, people can come in at the ground floor and work their way up. Pardon the pun, but they can grow with the company," Rockley said, sparking some laughter.
Those applying must be 18 years of age or older.
During the discussion at Alberta Works Rockley and Rietze were asked how many workers they'll eventually hire.
"We can't say in fact today how many people we will have at the end of the day when the operation is fully up and running. There are some economies of scale, of course, when you have that size of an operation," Rockley said.
"The first block will give us a really good idea as to how many we'll be hiring. But it will definitely be in the hundreds; mid hundreds for sure. High hundreds? We're not sure at this point. But we will be definitely a significant employer in the workplace."
They were also asked what the wage range will be.
Again, they didn't provide precise figures, but Rockley noted they'll be competing for employees with many other cannabis production companies.
"And regardless of competitiveness, we're a very fair employer, so we do want to pay a very fair wage. So in terms of a living wage, I don't see that as being an issue, in a variety of positions," he said.
Rockley said they'll be looking for all kinds of workers, including part-time employees. He said the facility could eventually be running 24 hours a day.
He said the company's goal is to be the kind of employer workers don't want to leave.
"We all have a favourite employer we worked with; we all have a favourite boss that we worked with. That's the environment that we want to create. We want to create a very positive workplace," he said.
They said there'll be lots of variety in the jobs, and opportunities for workers to advance.
"There's an opportunity for them to move across all sorts of disciplines in the facility. We want a very versatile staff, that they're able to do growing one day, irrigation the next, handle a lot of different roles," Rockley said.
Rockley said Sundial also wants to be a very responsible company.
"This is critical," he said. "We do understand, obviously, the social responsibility that goes along with a cannabis operation and what we sell into the marketplace.
"So we're going to be very strong on education; coming into the schools, doing presentations, talking about what we do, why we do (it), responsible use of cannabis. That's going to be (at the) forefront in what we do. I just want to make that really, really clear."
Rockley was asked if people with criminal records will be hired.
"You cannot be in a room with a plant unless you have Health Canada security clearance; or, you're with somebody who does have Health Canada security clearance. So we will not say 'no' to somebody who has a criminal record, but it's part and parcel of the screening process," Rockley said. "It's an extremely secure -- as you can appreciate -- facility."
Rockley said the path to obtain that clearance can be a long, detailed one.
"We will work with the employee in getting their application through Health Canada and it takes sometimes months," he said.
"You need fingerprinting and formal application. And honest to God, they go back -- jobs, neighbours, schooling -- everything. It's extensive. It's almost like working with CSIS (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) I think," he added, sparking some laughter.
Rietze said she's received a flurry of applications for jobs at the Olds Sundial facility.
"I'm reviewing them on a regular basis," she said. "I looked at about 214 early this morning before I left the house. So we're getting lots of applications, lots of interest."
Rietze urged applicants not to give up if they don't get hired for the first block.
"People need to realize (it's) about eight weeks out for lots of these roles, but if they don't get selected in the first round, they could be selected they could still be selected in the next round," she said.
Rockley said the plan is for employees to work there year-round. There are not expected to be any "down times" when workers might be laid off.
A man who described himself as an "underemployed" energy worker said prospective employers seem to lose interest in applicants if they find out they used to work in that field. He asked if that's Sundial's policy.
"I'm from the oil and gas industry...there's a lot of people from the oil and gas," Rietze said. "Specifically one I can talk a little bit about is the quality assurance role. Somebody who did a lot of regulatory and quality assurance with a large oil and gas company absolutely has a great skill set for what we need.
"(He or she) absolutely has to learn the product, but honestly, there's no reason those skills aren't transferable," Rietze added. "Will they make the exact same amount of money (they did) in the oil and gas industry? No, but they'll make a good living."
Rockley agreed.
"People from oil and gas have a wonderful skill set. They're used to working in a very health and safety conscious environment and (following) very detailed procedure, and that's what we need," he said.
Rietze was asked what would make an applicant stand out.
"I'm looking for attitude. Because you know, I think we can train people to do almost anything," she said. "But if someone has a terrible attitude or they think the job is just beneath them, then they shouldn't apply."
"I've only come across four people in the last 200 calls that I made that I would absolutely say I would not offer a job to or hire. And that's because of their attitude," she said.
"That's one of the reasons why Rita talks to so many people; because the resume doesn't tell the story," Rockley said. "Some people write very poor resumes and their (qualities) don't come through. And some people highly over-embellish their resumes," he added.
"So the opening line wouldn't be, 'I grew up in the '70s, I know all about marijuana,'" a participant said, sparking loud laughter from those in the room.
Rockley said Sundial is looking forward to beginning operations in Olds.
"The Town of Olds has been absolutely phenomenal to work with. We're really excited about being a very viable and important community member," he said.
