You know what actually makes people happy at work?
Spoiler: it’s not cubicles, khakis, or back-to-back Zoom calls about absolutely nothing. It’s cannabis.
According to the 2025 Shift Pulse Report, a juicy data drop from Deputy, a platform tracking how America’s hourly workers actually feel, the happiest people punching the clock are in the marijuana business. Yep, weed wins again.
Based on over 1.5 million anonymous surveys collected between April 2024 and April 2025, the report ranks employee sentiment across industries and states. The top dog? A curious category labeled “Tobacco, E-Cigarette & Marijuana,” a strange corporate ménage à trois of vice, vapor and vibe.
A whopping 91.87% of shift workers in that bundle said they felt good or amazing at the end of their day.
But here’s the kicker: the report never explains why these wildly different sectors, with opposite reputations, regulatory frameworks and cultural roots, are grouped together. Cannabis is still federally illegal and rooted in wellness, activism and counterculture. Tobacco? Let’s just say it has a very different legacy.
So… are we witnessing a “cannabis happiness effect”? Or is weed just being dragged into a smoky backroom with Marlboro and Juul?
Either way, that number beats out coffee shop workers (89.73%), gym staff (89.28%) and even dental assistants (89.53%).
So why are cannabis workers so damn happy?
Let’s be real. It’s not just the product (although, yeah… it probably helps).
The cannabis industry is still relatively young. That means operators are building companies from scratch, often with a focus on culture, wages, purpose and respect. Many cannabis companies are founded by people who hated their old jobs. They remember what it’s like to be mistreated, underpaid or ghosted by management. And they try not to repeat the cycle.
Also, there’s something deeply satisfying about working in …
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Author: High Times / High Times
