Question about Walgreens budget cuts

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cellardoor6 said:
I think it's just about everywhere. Summer months are usually less busy anyway, so for most stores cutting some hours makes sense. The store that I work is actually increasing in volume, but they are still decreasing hours. 👎
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Depends on location... Definitely less hours here in Florida (via rumor mill, not personal experience).
 
In northern Texas hours have been cut. I have not been scheduled as a pharmacy intern since the middle of May.
 
Strange...they cut our hours as well (Houston Texas), but I also received a raise last week...
 
Have they cut pharmacist hours also?
 
Its Z said:
Have they cut pharmacist hours also?
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With the 30 minutes of overlap they have here (at the location I interned at) - there isn't much to cut.

Reducing pharmacist hours w/o overlap = less profit. Now why would a chain do that?

Now, if your store is still rocking overlap (and what modern chain continues such an antiquated practice???) - I feel for ya 🙁 It's gonna be a long summer / year / career.
 
I'm wondering if hours are also being cut drastically in states that do not allow central fill, or if perhaps this is the beginning of some version of POWER in certain areas.
 
Doctor M said:
We actually increased tech hours 🙂
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I was reading about your pharmacy the other night. I hadn't been on this board in a long time. It is really inspiring to read about your success. Congrats! I was happy working at Walgreens for quite awhile, but in the last few months I have decided I want OUT! I very much want to eventually open an independent. I have about $20,000 saved for it, but I'm sure I'll need a lot more. I'm determined to get there eventually though. I wish you much continued success with yours! 🙂
 
They have cut hours everywhere that they could. There is also an official hiring freeze, so it will be really tough to find a job at Walgreens right now.
 
Someone in my pharmacy mentioned they are cutting hours starting July 14, I believe. Not sure if this is just our district or a nationwide thing. We are already understaffed, so I just can't wait until July 14...working will be such a pleasure.
 
I heard that they're trying to encourage rphs to work 32hr/wk at WAGs in oklahoma! then again, she said they were about to send out severance packages whenever the CVS debacle was going on too.
 
are floaters getting hours? what happenes when vacation season is over?
 
SoonerPharmD said:
I heard that they're trying to encourage rphs to work 32hr/wk at WAGs in oklahoma! then again, she said they were about to send out severance packages whenever the CVS debacle was going on too.
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I thought Oklahoma had a shortage. That's brutal.
 
A new Walgreens store will open in our area early next year. The store is already there, just wait to open. There was a local chain pharmacy nearby, but it moved to another nicer new building about a mile away. So this new Walgreens will be the only pharmacy in one-mile radius.

I do not know what's the implication of openning a new store on us as local pharmacists. Walgreens also took over an independent pharmacy downtown earlier this year.

I am at NC BTW.
 
We got our tech hours decreased by 32 hours, rph by 16 hours. This is the first week of the change. Today was really rough...very stressful. People were patient with our longer wait times, but I can definitely see customer service going down. Not to mention our store manager just said there may be another round of cuts. We are already at bare bones!

I don't know how they are going to make it through flu shot season at that rate they are going. Patient safety is at stake.
 
In Wisconsin, we did get the letter about the 32 hour and be a full timer with full benefits information. However, my market still has a number of open shifts in market scheduling.
 
rxlove said:
We got our tech hours decreased by 32 hours, rph by 16 hours. This is the first week of the change. Today was really rough...very stressful. People were patient with our longer wait times, but I can definitely see customer service going down. Not to mention our store manager just said there may be another round of cuts. We are already at bare bones!

I don't know how they are going to make it through flu shot season at that rate they are going. Patient safety is at stake.
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They are just like CVS and all the rest....Cutting labor to make a quick buck in order for their bottom line to look good, their stock price to go up and eveyones bonus to go up. Safeway and Kroger are doing the same thing. It will continue untill there are seveal deaths or serious patient injuries due to under staffing. It is the only way things ever change in this country.
 
MountainPharmD said:
They are just like CVS and all the rest....Cutting labor to make a quick buck in order for their bottom line to look good, their stock price to go up and eveyones bonus to go up. Safeway and Kroger are doing the same thing.
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YUP. This is one of the reasons why I left my DOP position. My fundamental belief is that full time employee deserves 40 hours per week. I do not believe in 32 hours per work week. Also, if it's that bad that everyone has to go 32 hours, then I demand it starts at the top from CEO.

It will continue untill there are seveal deaths or serious patient injuries due to under staffing. It is the only way things ever change in this country.
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Severe deaths or injuries won't change this practice. Trust me. they'll just throw the pharmacist under the bus... corporation will do everything they can to protect themselves...they will spend 10's and 100's millions in legal defense and make sure the blame falls on the pharmacist. Welcome to America. It's the American way!!
 
MountainPharmD said:
They are just like CVS and all the rest....Cutting labor to make a quick buck in order for their bottom line to look good, their stock price to go up and eveyones bonus to go up. Safeway and Kroger are doing the same thing. It will continue untill there are seveal deaths or serious patient injuries due to under staffing. It is the only way things ever change in this country.
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Actually... to be fair, CVS did not cut hours. Every pharmacist that I know are working >40 hours... and got increased tech hours. In fact because we get free "intern RVC hours" in the summer, I actually have more help than I need.

Somewhat fustrating though because when you have too much help... people start slacking off and start texting.
 
Aznfarmerboi said:
Actually... to be fair, CVS did not cut hours. Every pharmacist that I know are working >40 hours... and got increased tech hours. In fact because we get free "intern RVC hours" in the summer, I actually have more help than I need.

Somewhat fustrating though because when you have too much help... people start slacking off and start texting.
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CVS cut every possible cost except people. They froze salaries in 2009 for field management & up but everybody at the store level was eligible for an increase. The bags got thinner, the staples got cheaper, the lab coats got crappier but they did not cut jobs. Such a ****ty company....
 
Aznfarmerboi said:
Actually... to be fair, CVS did not cut hours. Every pharmacist that I know are working >40 hours... and got increased tech hours. In fact because we get free "intern RVC hours" in the summer, I actually have more help than I need.

Somewhat fustrating though because when you have too much help... people start slacking off and start texting.
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The hospital I work at sent me home today because census was low. Meanwhile at CVS we just hired a new tech because we weren't using all our tech hours. The anti-retail bend on this forum is staggering and quite distorted from reality, imo.
 
owlegrad said:
The hospital I work at sent me home today because census was low. Meanwhile at CVS we just hired a new tech because we weren't using all our tech hours. The anti-retail bend on this forum is staggering and quite distorted from reality, imo.
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The cuts seem to be region specific, though...so, I can understand why there is a lot of doom and gloom from certain people. Last year, we were on a hiring freeze here at the hospital.
 
Old Timer said:
CVS cut every possible cost except people. They froze salaries in 2009 for field management & up but everybody at the store level was eligible for an increase. The bags got thinner, the staples got cheaper, the lab coats got crappier but they did not cut jobs. Such a ****ty company....
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They have already cut their labor costs down as low as they can go. If they cut any more labor you would have stores with no staff. The CVS across the street from me does twice the volume as we do and has half the allowed hours for technicians. The place is an absolute disaster as is the rest of the company. CVS is a joke don't let the idiots on here try and paint a pretty picture for you. It is ugly at CVS.
 
Here's the scoop re: WAG cuts...

The is a nationwide freeze on hiring all pharmacy personnel as of the third week of June - including RPhs and interns.
All stores received word last week as to changes in budget hours (most all were cut to some extent-mine lost 60+ tech hours). No RPh hours or store hours were cut to my knowledge anywhere in the country. The change goes into effect for the next pay period (2 weeks) and would last until at least when the flu shot season begins. Then, those hours will be increased again but there is no promise that any store will have all of their hours returned to them.
This week, there were emergency top-secret 😀 phone conferences with store managers, rx managers and DMs that outlined a modification in the budget cuts. CL's (Community Leaders=a store manager from one store who serves as a mentor for a group of stores in a community) were to meet with the rx supervisors and DMs and discuss the situation in individual stores. Technicians could either be 1) transferred to another store 2) demoted to another position in the store 3) have their hours greatly reduced or 4) laid off. This is being done by seniority, not by the quality of the worker!
This was to be decided by July 1 in the districts with the changes to go into effect 2 weeks later. The store and rx managers were given script messages to read to each technician individually about the matter. The techs who were to be laid off will be told their fate in person by the DM and rx supervisor.
It's really ridiculous to turn the lives of these people upside down for a 2 month period until flu shots begin. This is an all-time low for my 20+ year career with this company. But then again, this is a time in our society that is unlike any most of us have ever seen.
 
OldPharmer said:
Here's the scoop re: WAG cuts...

The is a nationwide freeze on hiring all pharmacy personnel as of the third week of June - including RPhs and interns.
All stores received word last week as to changes in budget hours (most all were cut to some extent-mine lost 60+ tech hours). No RPh hours or store hours were cut to my knowledge anywhere in the country. The change goes into effect for the next pay period (2 weeks) and would last until at least when the flu shot season begins. Then, those hours will be increased again but there is no promise that any store will have all of their hours returned to them.
This week, there were emergency top-secret 😀 phone conferences with store managers, rx managers and DMs that outlined a modification in the budget cuts. CL's (Community Leaders=a store manager from one store who serves as a mentor for a group of stores in a community) were to meet with the rx supervisors and DMs and discuss the situation in individual stores. Technicians could either be 1) transferred to another store 2) demoted to another position in the store 3) have their hours greatly reduced or 4) laid off. This is being done by seniority, not by the quality of the worker!
This was to be decided by July 1 in the districts with the changes to go into effect 2 weeks later. The store and rx managers were given script messages to read to each technician individually about the matter. The techs who were to be laid off will be told their fate in person by the DM and rx supervisor.
It's really ridiculous to turn the lives of these people upside down for a 2 month period until flu shots begin. This is an all-time low for my 20+ year career with this company. But then again, this is a time in our society that is unlike any most of us have ever seen.
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Can't get any more straight from the horses mouth than that! Nice clarification thanks!

It kills me how these big corporate chains think. How do they figure it is a good thing to treat your employess with such careless disregard? The most valuable thing you can have in a pharmacy is a good technician. How many good technicians are there going to be if you lay them off or fire them every time it gets slow. Do they seriously expect everyone to bust thier butts at 110% during the busy times and then just go away when it slows in the summer?

Idiots run them all. Thats all I have to say about that!
 
OldPharmer said:
Here's the scoop re: WAG cuts...

The is a nationwide freeze on hiring all pharmacy personnel as of the third week of June - including RPhs and interns.
All stores received word last week as to changes in budget hours (most all were cut to some extent-mine lost 60+ tech hours). No RPh hours or store hours were cut to my knowledge anywhere in the country. The change goes into effect for the next pay period (2 weeks) and would last until at least when the flu shot season begins. Then, those hours will be increased again but there is no promise that any store will have all of their hours returned to them.
This week, there were emergency top-secret 😀 phone conferences with store managers, rx managers and DMs that outlined a modification in the budget cuts. CL's (Community Leaders=a store manager from one store who serves as a mentor for a group of stores in a community) were to meet with the rx supervisors and DMs and discuss the situation in individual stores. Technicians could either be 1) transferred to another store 2) demoted to another position in the store 3) have their hours greatly reduced or 4) laid off. This is being done by seniority, not by the quality of the worker!
This was to be decided by July 1 in the districts with the changes to go into effect 2 weeks later. The store and rx managers were given script messages to read to each technician individually about the matter. The techs who were to be laid off will be told their fate in person by the DM and rx supervisor.
It's really ridiculous to turn the lives of these people upside down for a 2 month period until flu shots begin. This is an all-time low for my 20+ year career with this company. But then again, this is a time in our society that is unlike any most of us have ever seen.
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Thanks so much for the info. Just a comment on the bolded part...our RPh hours were cut by 16 hours at my store in Minnesota. :scared:
 
rxlove said:
Thanks so much for the info. Just a comment on the bolded part...our RPh hours were cut by 16 hours at my store in Minnesota. :scared:
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The RPh hours were also cut by 16 hours at my store in Texas.
 
Does everyone have a listing under kpis now for POWER? It wasn't there before. Just wondering what they are up to....
 
My guess is that they added some KPIs for POWER, and for whatever reason didn't limit it to the POWER stores. It has been there for awhile, now. There is no plan to bring POWER to Wisconsin for the near future.
No one got fired from my store. We just had someone leave us. However, we are considered to be a pharmacy which will have staffing problems in the near future. Our RxS is aware of the coming collapse, and is trying to help us find someone.
We actually did receive our flu vaccine syringes this week.
We lost about 15 tech hours.
 
OldPharmer said:
Here's the scoop re: WAG cuts...

The is a nationwide freeze on hiring all pharmacy personnel as of the third week of June - including RPhs and interns.
All stores received word last week as to changes in budget hours (most all were cut to some extent-mine lost 60+ tech hours). No RPh hours or store hours were cut to my knowledge anywhere in the country. The change goes into effect for the next pay period (2 weeks) and would last until at least when the flu shot season begins. Then, those hours will be increased again but there is no promise that any store will have all of their hours returned to them.
This week, there were emergency top-secret 😀 phone conferences with store managers, rx managers and DMs that outlined a modification in the budget cuts. CL's (Community Leaders=a store manager from one store who serves as a mentor for a group of stores in a community) were to meet with the rx supervisors and DMs and discuss the situation in individual stores. Technicians could either be 1) transferred to another store 2) demoted to another position in the store 3) have their hours greatly reduced or 4) laid off. This is being done by seniority, not by the quality of the worker!
This was to be decided by July 1 in the districts with the changes to go into effect 2 weeks later. The store and rx managers were given script messages to read to each technician individually about the matter. The techs who were to be laid off will be told their fate in person by the DM and rx supervisor.
It's really ridiculous to turn the lives of these people upside down for a 2 month period until flu shots begin. This is an all-time low for my 20+ year career with this company. But then again, this is a time in our society that is unlike any most of us have ever seen.
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Yup, well said. I've been in management with WAGs for 5 years, and I am making the leap over to Pharmacy now. Yea, things are getting bad, and a lot of budget cuts are and have been coming down. WAGs did a corporate lay off and restructuring sweep last year and from what I have heard they are going to implement something similar at the store level this year. Which it seems like it is already starting.

I really liked WAGs when I first started, but things have been heading in the wrong direction. I don't even know if I can transfer from management to a tech or intern when I start school in August. Probably gonna have to take a leave of absence for the time being. I'd hate to loose my status; vacation days, sick days, profit sharing, etc, etc. 👎

Gonna look elsewhere when I move to West Palm in 4 weeks...like Publix, Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, or etc.
 
That's too bad. When I started pharmacy school, walgreens was the premier pharmacy but now, they are always scrambling to try to beat CVS.
 
Ugh. I don't think Walgreens was ever "premier".
aboveliquidice said:
Reducing pharmacist hours w/o overlap = less profit. Now why would a chain do that?
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Sometimes it is cheaper to be closed. For example, operating a Walgreens store 24 hours a day must cost the company more than it costs to be open from 8am to 10pm, since tons of Wags converted from 24 hour stores to the shorter time period. If not many prescriptions are filled overnight and you have to pay a higher wage for overnights and keep the store open and pay store staff on top of that, it is understandable why overnights would not be proftable. There were some hours when I worked my Kroger job that we didn't fill enough to justify our wages. Patients will adjust to reduced hours if they are not severe reductions that make using the pharmacy less convenient. So, even non-overnight locations could cut out some non-overlap time.
 
They cut our tech hours by 40, and are about to cut again. We just lost our only senior tech and we can't hire anyone else. We are a very busy 24 hour store, and things are about to get ugly. We will have no tech overlap on saturdays, and techs will be leaving at 10pm. My manager was sent an email to read to us that stated techs who have not been typing well and have not been typing for other stores are going to be relocated or laid off.
I love this company...
 
HeartandSoul said:
My manager was sent an email to read to us that stated techs who have not been typing well and have not been typing for other stores are going to be relocated or laid off.
I love this company...
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Seriously? Wow, I hadn't heard that. We have a bunch of crappy techs. Maybe one advantage in all of this will be getting to get rid of some of them.
 
No such e-mail in this market.
A number of stores in our area do have 8am-9pm hours, though.
From what I hear, the closest 24 hour store in our area is busy overnight. They have a tech until 2am.
 
HeartandSoul said:
My manager was sent an email to read to us that stated techs who have not been typing well and have not been typing for other stores are going to be relocated or laid off.
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Therein lies a major concern for me. IF we go by the DRE% and F1'ing for other stores (which is a probability that I have also heard of), then I believe the move is a little easier to swallow.

Like someone else above said, a pharmacist should be able to determine his/her own techs ... NOT some overpaid fool sitting behind a desk who thinks seniority is a better determining factor. Like almost anyone who is in the trenches everyday, I will take someone who has been around 5 years who has stellar data entry skills and mediocre people skills over a 20 year vet with bad knees who knows every customer who walks in.👍
 
OldPharmer said:
Therein lies a major concern for me. IF we go by the DRE% and F1'ing for other stores (which is a probability that I have also heard of), then I believe the move is a little easier to swallow.

Like someone else above said, a pharmacist should be able to determine his/her own techs ... NOT some overpaid fool sitting behind a desk who thinks seniority is a better determining factor. Like almost anyone who is in the trenches everyday, I will take someone who has been around 5 years who has stellar data entry skills and mediocre people skills over a 20 year vet with bad knees who knows every customer who walks in.👍
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Can I introduce you to Jack Welch 70-20-10 differentiation method of managing your employees?

:meanie:
 
HeartandSoul said:
My manager was sent an email to read to us that stated techs who have not been typing well and have not been typing for other stores are going to be relocated or laid off.
I love this company...
Click to expand...

A lot of stores in the Central Florida area received these emails, it was part of the "super-duper important" conference call last week about the Pharmacy budget cuts.

Bottom line is Walgreens is no longer run by the Walgreens family. Two years ago Kevin Walgreens washed his hands and parted ways due to a falling out with the new blood of corporate raiders/executives that are currently running the company. The Walgreens family ran a solid company for a long time, but their power and control is greatly diminished and these guys/gals running the show are making drastic changes for the purpose of fattening their wallets. Like the transition of Eckerd's to CVS years ago, Walgreens is taking a page out of that playbook and slashing everything at the store level to reap bigger bonuses and paychecks at the corporate level. Typical corporate crap. 👎
 
HeartandSoul said:
My manager was sent an email to read to us that stated techs who have not been typing well and have not been typing for other stores are going to be relocated or laid off.
I love this company...
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And you know after they are done with the techs they will start targeting the pharmacists for F4's and STARS reports.

I wonder with the huge tech hour cut are the pharmacist goals for remote verification still the same? Is our goal of wait time under 15 minutes the same? Some stores I've been to don't even have a technician on a few days of the week- just the pharmacist. Even though they are low volume stores, I don't think they are low enough to take care of filling, cashiering, typing, verifying, inventory reports, insurance issues, remote verification etc. without a hitch. And who is going to get the brunt of customers' anger when the wait time is an hour? Corporate will just team up with the customers.
 
MountainPharmD said:
They have already cut their labor costs down as low as they can go. If they cut any more labor you would have stores with no staff. The CVS across the street from me does twice the volume as we do and has half the allowed hours for technicians. The place is an absolute disaster as is the rest of the company. CVS is a joke don't let the idiots on here try and paint a pretty picture for you. It is ugly at CVS.
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... I like you but just be fair here. You just had 3 posters saying that we have more hours than what we know to do with. I am in the process of hiring 2 new technicians...

I am not sure about that CVS... but I think you are exaggerating it. Either the PIC there has problem scheduling or they have a robot there (which is equivalent to 3 techs)... Also, the average CVS has more technology that increases efficiency from fillmasters, pill counters, and automated fax and calls to MD for PAs/refill requests. A hospital filling 2,000 scripts a day have less help but would not be anymore evil. The truth is, they have a robot there that pumps out scripts non stop.

On the other hand, cuts at Wags is definite. I hope their store goes to hell so they can understand why it is so important to treat their employees well.
 
and yes old timer, I agree with you. I noticed the paper are thinner that sometimes the medication fell through the bag. Also... the lab coats are garbage. No matter how much you wash it, there is no way to get the amoxicillin stain/smell out.

Kind of sad when CVS probably spend millions on paper when printing out labels that everybody throw out.
 
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