Remarkably few jobs disclose they require drug testing before confirming employment, or during employment. On average, only 1.47% of job postings in the U.S. mention they require pre-employment drug tests.
According to a study conducted by Quest Diagnostics Inc., drug use among American employees, as measured by the percentage of employees who tested positive in urine drug tests, hit a 14-year high in 2018, reaching 4.4%.
Cannabis continues to be the most popular substance, with 2.8% of all employees tested showing positive results. But, with the embracing of the legality of it in a majority of states, a study shows employee drug tests maybe be fading.
The news led addiction experts at the American Addiction Centers to wonder about the impact this might have on pre-employment drug testing in professionals. Seeking for an answer, they conducted an analysis of job postings on the popular website Glassdoor. They were trying to find out what types of jobs are most likely to include requirements for drug tests, and regular drug screening.
Overall, remarkably few jobs disclose they require drug testing before confirming employment, or during employment. On average, only 1.47% of job postings in the U.S. mention they require pre-employment drug tests.
Even fewer jobs disclose they require regular drug screenings during employment. On average, only 0.66% of job postings mention regular drug testing.
RELATED: The Great Backyard Revival: Cannabis Is Becoming the New Summer Entertaining Trend
A few of the most likely industries to require pre-employment drug tests were:
- Government
- Health Care & Hospitals
- Manufacturing
- Automotive
- Transportation & Logistics
- Private Security
- Aerospace & Defense
- Construction
- Information Technology
- Education & Schools
A few of the most likely industries to require regular drug screenings were:
- Health Care & Hospitals
- Transportation & Logistics
- Government
- Automotive
- Manufacturing
- Information Technology
- Insurance
- Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
- Real Estate
- Non-Profit
“Overall, we were surprised more employers were not up front with the sobriety expectations for their employees, particularly in some of the more manual fields such as manufacturing or construction. Additionally, incredibly few office jobs discuss drug testing in their job postings,” American Addiction Centers experts said during an exclusive conversation.
Now, while drug testing numbers are surprisingly low on average, there’s considerable variation between states.
Still, only one city in the country boasts a number above 2.4%: in Arlington, TX, almost 7% of jobs require pre-employment drug screenings. On the other end of the spectrum was New York City, with just 0.46% of all jobs requiring screenings.
See also: Cannabis Is Way Better And Safer Than A Honey Pack
One very surprising discovery made from the data was Omaha, NE had absolutely no jobs required regular drug screening according to their job postings. However, according to a study from earlier this year, residents of the city have the highest substance abuse rate in the country. It seems contradictory a city experiencing a pronounced issue with substance abuse would have absolutely no job postings addressing the issue.
But, beyond city-specific data, one thing is clear: drug testing before or during employment is a thing of the past.
