Fewer employers are screening job candidates for marijuana because it would make it tougher to find qualified candidates

See More U.S. Workers Are Testing Positive for Marijuana. Fewer Employers Are Concerned. As cannabis use grows, employers are rethinking pre-hire screens to avoid recruiting challenges by Celia Bernhardt of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"And fewer employers are screening job candidates for marijuana use at all, in part because it would make it tougher to find enough qualified candidates, said Todd Logsdon, a partner at employment law firm Fisher Phillips. 

“I’ve had other employers tell me, ‘If I test for that, I’m not gonna have any applicants,’” Logsdon said. “They’re being very choosy about which role they test for.”

In a 2024 survey of nearly 1,000 employers, the law firm found about half didn’t test for cannabis in the pre-hire process, often for that reason. Among those that did test, 44% said they faced recruiting challenges and nearly a quarter said they were considering loosening the policy.     

Citigroup and many of its Wall Street peers dropped the pre-hire test over the past decade. Retailers like AutoNation and Home Depot have done away with it for most positions as well. Amazon stopped testing for marijuana for most applicants in 2021." 

This article shows how competitive labor markets are. If employers had the power they could keep screening for marijuana use.