CVS, Walmart to Cut Pharmacy Hours as Staffing Squeeze Continues

[GrandTheftAutumn]

WSJ News Exclusive | CVS, Walmart to Cut Pharmacy Hours as Staffing Squeeze Continues

Operating schedules remain a “pain point” for pharmacists as drugstore chains seek to improve the work environment.

www.wsj.com

"CVS, the largest U.S. drugstore chain by revenue, plans in March to cut or shift hours at about two-thirds of its roughly 9,000 U.S. locations. Walmart plans to reduce pharmacy hours by closing at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. at most of its roughly 4,600 stores by March"

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[mentos]

That's okay, I'll just work for Amazon where I will be buzzed from craft beer Thursday and get a massage from my personal masseuse.

 

[owlegrad]

Imagine the horror of getting off work at 7 instead of 9. Those poor pharmacists.

 

[projektreverb]

Imagine the horror of getting off work at 7 instead of 9. Those poor pharmacists.

I mean, they’ll get off on paper at 7, but have to stay until 9 anyways just to catch up.

 

[Prepharm1214]

I don't mind staying open until 9 in my current job although I don't have kids yet. Trying to fill the same number of scripts and completing managerial tasks in a 10 hour vs 12 hour day sounds rough

 

[RxPreceptor]

I mean, when is this ever news to anyone working retail?
Big brother always be cutting hours post flu season boom after new years

Another shocker…fat new year resolutioners piss off more pharmacists and actual legit diabetics by creating massive, cascading drug shortages of GLP-1 agonists. Everything will probably be ok come late February-March when people look back at his/her short sighted, whimsical, unrealistic expectations

 

[Gombrich12]

I mean, when is this ever news to anyone working retail?
Big brother always be cutting hours post flu season boom after new years

Another shocker…fat new year resolutioners piss off more pharmacists and actual legit diabetics by creating massive, cascading drug shortages of GLP-1 agonists. Everything will probably be ok come late February-March when people look back at his/her short sighted, whimsical, unrealistic expectations

I don't remember operating hours fluctuating seasonally. I think the collapse of retail pharmacy is accelerating. If covid never happened I think their plan was to bring pharmacist wages down to 40-45/hr. I guess their plan B will be to cut operating hours, close stores, and lobby for expanded technician duties.

 

[Sunshine98*]

and lobby for expanded technician duties.

may pass by law (and in some states already) but it's hard these days to find QUALITY techs who want to learn and grow. Then you say pay is the reason...well when you pay more and then you have some that still call in, drag their feet, and the store will reduce hours to compensate. I am all for paying those who will work. Have come across some during the years in which they did deserve more pay. But right now, still in a no-win situation.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I mean, they’ll get off on paper at 7, but have to stay until 9 anyways just to catch up.

Nah. Most pharmacists I know just GTFO at close these days. There might be that one idiot that wants to become district manager one day, but that's it.

 

[Chrish]

Imagine the horror of getting off work at 7 instead of 9. Those poor pharmacists.

Salaried rphs will be forced to work off the clock to get caught up..

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Salaried rphs will be forced to work off the clock to get caught up..

I haven't seen this anywhere around me. People just leave when the clock hits quitting time unless it's waiting bin or something.

 

[mentos]

I haven't seen this anywhere around me. People just leave when the clock hits quitting time unless it's waiting bin or something.

I saw it like 7-8 years ago. People would come in an hour early, sometimes stay an hour late. 10min here, 15 min there, it all adds up. They were even shamed by other pharmacists and techs if they stayed "only" 15 min late. Luckily I never GAF and left as soon as my shift was over.

 

[BenJammin]

It's news stories like this that separate the smart pharmacists from the dumb ones. This news is not something we should be celebrating. They're not cutting hours because they appreciate their employees or found an APhA study that said this move would be beneficial to the company. The pharmacy labor market is brutal. Community pharmacists are being offered $100k sign on bonuses to work in desirable areas of the country and no one is taking them up on the offer. The number of new grads is going down year over year but the ones going into clinical work is steadying out which means the number going into community work is shrinking. Techs are in high demand but working conditions suck so much that they're demanding higher pay. Sorry to all you techs out there but you're not worth $25/hr fresh from your CPhT school. I hope you CVS and Walmart peeps are coming up with your plan B. Your hours got cut and it's only a matter of time before you're next.

 

[projektreverb]

I saw it like 7-8 years ago. People would come in an hour early, sometimes stay an hour late. 10min here, 15 min there, it all adds up. They were even shamed by other pharmacists and techs if they stayed "only" 15 min late. Luckily I never GAF and left as soon as my shift was over.

This was common practice in my area when I was still in retail 2 years ago. It happened among floaters too but not as frequently. My understanding from my retail friends is it still happens.

 

[Chrish]

If you leave 100-200 prescriptions in queue, you get bombarded with phone calls the next day checking the status of prescriptions, dealing with angry customers on why their scripts aren’t ready, why their medications weren’t ordered etc.

So, you have two options: either you leave on time and deal with these issues the next day, or you stay little bit over/ come early, and get more caught up and have a next better day. What’s the right thing to do? That’s the decision you have to make. Remember those horror stories of some CVS stores having 100 pages of queue??

On topic, closing at 7 isn’t a good thing. All rphs/ techs will loose hours. I shake my head when these idiots get excited about this change. Like do you understand you are slowly loosing your livelihood?

 

[mentos]

It's news stories like this that separate the smart pharmacists from the dumb ones. This news is not something we should be celebrating. They're not cutting hours because they appreciate their employees or found an APhA study that said this move would be beneficial to the company. The pharmacy labor market is brutal. Community pharmacists are being offered $100k sign on bonuses to work in desirable areas of the country and no one is taking them up on the offer. The number of new grads is going down year over year but the ones going into clinical work is steadying out which means the number going into community work is shrinking. Techs are in high demand but working conditions suck so much that they're demanding higher pay. Sorry to all you techs out there but you're not worth $25/hr fresh from your CPhT school. I hope you CVS and Walmart peeps are coming up with your plan B. Your hours got cut and it's only a matter of time before you're next.

If minimum wage becomes $22/hr then all the pharm techs will just work at McDonald's for better conditions, and there will be no more pharm techs left.

McDonald's president who made $7.4 million last year says proposal to pay fast-food workers $22 an hour is 'costly and job-destroying'

McDonald's president calls AB 257, or the FAST Act, 'costly and job-destroying.' A coalition led by chains like McDonald's has secured a referendum vote in November 2024.

news.yahoo.com

 

[Gombrich12]

It's news stories like this that separate the smart pharmacists from the dumb ones.

If every retail pharmacist got laid off and forced to do something else how many would still be upset about it 10 years later? How many would say being forced out of retail eventually made their lives better?

 

[sfachine]

If you leave 100-200 prescriptions in queue, you get bombarded with phone calls the next day checking the status of prescriptions, dealing with angry customers on why their scripts aren’t ready, why their medications weren’t ordered etc.

So, you have two options: either you leave on time and deal with these issues the next day, or you stay little bit over/ come early, and get more caught up and have a next better day. What’s the right thing to do? That’s the decision you have to make. Remember those horror stories of some CVS stores having 100 pages of queue??

On topic, closing at 7 isn’t a good thing. All rphs/ techs will loose hours. I shake my head when these idiots get excited about this change. Like do you understand you are slowly loosing your livelihood?

I may be dreaming but even though the pharmacy hours will be cut maybe the total hours of labor will not be .This will lead to more overlap and better working conditions.

 

[Chrish]

I may be dreaming but even though the pharmacy hours will be cut maybe the total hours of labor will not be .This will lead to more overlap and better working conditions.

Nope. I was getting 3-4 extra hours per 2 weeks that will be gone once we transition to 7 pm.

 

[RxPreceptor]

Still not quite sure why so many are surprised…not too long ago, non-24 hour stores were open until 10pm, hell some until midnight.

I must admit, 7pm is kind of early though. Not sure if this translates to going home early…this has already been done in my area with closing early and having staff stay a good 1-2 hours after “closing” to play catch up, opening RPh and tech come in 1 hour before opening to set up (getting paid obviously, just cutting down the time allowed for pick ups and phone calls)

 

[Twentytwelve2]

I believe the idea is so that the pharmacist is not working alone, which isn't productive. Would you get more work done with an RPH and a tech for the last 3 hours or just an RPH? Most RPH's cant even count and pull fast. So why pay an RPH for the last 3 hours or whatever, to work alone? The productivity isnt there.

 

[mentos]

Probably has to do with script count too. How many new scripts come in after 7pm? It's mostly oxy from the ER.

 

[sfachine]

.The chains now require the same amount of work in less hours with no additional help so we are working harder and are rewarded with a pay cut.Now to be fair remote filling and other technology may help but anyone who is thinking of a long term career with a major chain is delusionary..

 

[Sunshine98*]

but anyone who is thinking of a long term career with a major chain is delusionary..

it will suck the living soul out of you

 

[Dreamer716]

It seems like there is a split in what this really means according to this thread. Some suggest it's because of the shortage of pharmacy technicians and a shortage of pharmacists who are willing to accept the lower rates and working conditions. I thought this was companies planning for the post covid world by where there is no funding for testing, vaccines, early refills, paxlovid, etc, by reducing operating costs. If I look back to 2019 pre-covid, retail was not in a good space from what I remember.

 

[sfachine]

It seems like there is a split in what this really means according to this thread. Some suggest it's because of the shortage of pharmacy technicians and a shortage of pharmacists who are willing to accept the lower rates and working conditions. I thought this was companies planning for the post covid world by where there is no funding for testing, vaccines, early refills, paxlovid, etc, by reducing operating costs. If I look back to 2019 pre-covid, retail was not in a good space from what I remember.

Probably some of both.

 

[projektreverb]

It seems like there is a split in what this really means according to this thread. Some suggest it's because of the shortage of pharmacy technicians and a shortage of pharmacists who are willing to accept the lower rates and working conditions. I thought this was companies planning for the post covid world by where there is no funding for testing, vaccines, early refills, paxlovid, etc, by reducing operating costs. If I look back to 2019 pre-covid, retail was not in a good space from what I remember.

It wasn’t any better post covid but you might have a point

 

[O.State]

Our district is getting hit with a 2-for, closing more stores (they closed 2 of them only 6 months ago) and a HOO cut for every store by at least an hour.

My store (script count 3200/week) got overlap cut from 12/week to 4 or 5/week.

Here is the kicker, my store is going to be a receiving store for the 1200 scripts/week that need a new home after store closure. lucky me

 

[sfachine]

Our district is getting hit with a 2-for, closing more stores (they closed 2 of them only 6 months ago) and a HOO cut for every store by at least an hour.

My store (script count 3200/week) got overlap cut from 12/week to 4 or 5/week.

Here is the kicker, my store is going to be a receiving store for the 1200 scripts/week that need a new home after store closure. lucky me

That’s the worst.Giving copies all day.They probably will give you extra help.I hope there is a bar for you to get liquered up at quitting time.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

I thought this was companies planning for the post covid world by where there is no funding for testing, vaccines, early refills, paxlovid, etc, by reducing operating costs. If I look back to 2019 pre-covid, retail was not in a good space from what I remember.

They've been cutting hours/closing stores pre-covid.

 

[nampa]

Nah. Most pharmacists I know just GTFO at close these days. There might be that one idiot that wants to become district manager one day, but that's it.

What is the unspoken rule about this? Wasn't teh work load to big to get out at that time and workers would be chastised for not geting it done? What's the story?

 

[dxb8307]

I saw it like 7-8 years ago. People would come in an hour early, sometimes stay an hour late. 10min here, 15 min there, it all adds up. They were even shamed by other pharmacists and techs if they stayed "only" 15 min late. Luckily I never GAF and left as soon as my shift was over.

I stayed late gazillion times. The PIC at my store stays late almost daily. Lots of pharmacists in my district do the same.

 

[mentos]

I stayed late gazillion times. The PIC at my store stays late almost daily. Lots of pharmacists in my district do the same.

Why

 

[Pronounce Doxazosin]

One of the reasons why “salaried” position is a loophole that these companies are abusing
Every pharmacist should be clocking in and out IMO

 

[dxb8307]

Why stay late? For the sake of our sanity. We get ques to look decent so the next day is not stressful. I make sure my partner is not coming into a mess and she does the same for me. Completely different story when one of us is vacation.

 

[RxPreceptor]

No one should be staying late. Corporate fat cats just taking advantage of spineless RPh…work off the clock and in return you’ll get even more hours cut

*lowers one’s value too…time is quite a finite resource

 

[sfachine]

I can see both sides .I occasionally stayed late due to some unforeseen circumstances.Then it became routine and I ended it.Staying late without pay is slicing your own throat.

 

[Sunshine98*]

No one should be staying late. Corporate fat cats just taking advantage of spineless RPh…work off the clock and in return you’ll get even more hours cut

*lowers one’s value too…time is quite a finite resource

100% true. But sadly, I'm in a situation where the PIC will give me a bad eval if it don't. . And the issue is not my productivity. Its the tech situation.

 

[RxPreceptor]

100% true. But sadly, I'm in a situation where the PIC will give me a bad eval if it don't. . And the issue is not my productivity. Its the tech situation.

Report him/her to HR

 

[sfachine]

Report him/her to HR

HR in my humble opinion is just a lapdog of corporate.Its so function is to protect corporate interests.I would not count on them.

 

[sfachine]

HR in my humble opinion is just a lapdog of corporate.Its sole function is to protect corporate interests.I would not count on them.

 

[Sunshine98*]

HR in my humble opinion is just a lapdog of corporate.Its so function is to protect corporate interests.I would not count on them.

BINGO!

 

[MatCauthon]

Pharmacy school is graduating a boatload of pharmacists. but I don't talk to anyone that wants to be a retail pharmacist anymore. How many graduates are completely bailing on pharmacy if they don't get a residency or fail to land a non retail job? It seems like that is becoming a thing

If it wasn't a thing, then there wouldn't be large sign on bonuses even in major metro areas right now. I even got an add for a 150k sign on bonus this year

 

[BenJammin]

Pharmacy school is graduating a boatload of pharmacists. but I don't talk to anyone that wants to be a retail pharmacist anymore. How many graduates are completely bailing on pharmacy if they don't get a residency or fail to land a non retail job? It seems like that is becoming a thing

If it wasn't a thing, then there wouldn't be large sign on bonuses even in major metro areas right now. I even got an add for a 150k sign on bonus this year

There's probably some truth to that but the number of residency applications is dropping faster than the number of students enrolled in a pharmacy program.

 

[RxPreceptor]

HR in my humble opinion is just a lapdog of corporate.Its so function is to protect corporate interests.I would not count on them.

More so just a threat to the person…total PIA with paper work, phone calls, visits, confrontations, etc.

 

[Xenophylia]

Nice to finally see these chains finally getting punished for their behavior. $$$ is the only thing that hits them where it hurts. I'm a but surprised they're not pushing the state boards harder to factor pharmacists out of the equation and having techs run the pharmacy. Quality of care isn't an issue to the chains. And in most states (including mine) the chains pretty much own the state boards.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

Don't you worry, ladies and gentlemen. Opportunities are doublin'. I have no idea where. Maybe it's just in their head. Or it's just their amount of student loans that are doublin'.

 

[Xenophylia]

I want whatever kool-aid those kids are drinking....

 

[RxPreceptor]

Cringiest **** I’ve ever seen

 

[Xenophylia]

Probably the last time in their careers they will be smiling.....