According to Forbes, we are underpaid

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Digsbe

Digsbe

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The 25 Most Underpaid Jobs In America

Came across this link, it says Pharmacists are the 5th most underpaid job in the US and that our current market value is $141,261.

I question how they come up with these results given saturated markets, but I'd love to see salaries rise like that. If it's economically viable to pay a pharmacist standard 160k in CA I don't see why other states it cannot be like that. It appears the market is heading the other way though with major chains implementing raise freezes (I received 0 raise) and some offers for new grads being lower than previous years. However, given the revenue we generate in most markets and the liability/responsibility given to us we are likely worth more in my opinion.
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Digsbe said:
The 25 Most Underpaid Jobs In America

Came across this link, it says Pharmacists are the 5th most underpaid job in the US and that our current market value is $141,261.

I question how they come up with these results given saturated markets, but I'd love to see salaries rise like that. If it's economically viable to pay a pharmacist standard 160k in CA I don't see why other states it cannot be like that. It appears the market is heading the other way though with major chains implementing raise freezes (I received 0 raise) and some offers for new grads being lower than previous years. However, given the revenue we generate in most markets and the liability/responsibility given to us we are likely worth more in my opinion.
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Guess I'm overpaid
 
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Digsbe said:
Since I'm hourly with the overtime I work I'd make par. When I was salaried retail at 120k I guess I'd be "undervalued." I know friends in retail making less.
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What I basically got out of that is if demand is high, you're underpaid. Guess Forbes doesn't understand the current market.
 
Lol.. I think I deserve 500k a year. Who cares what I think?

Pay is based on supply and demand. None of those two things are in the pharmacists' favor.
 
We are underpaid when you take into account our student loan burdens and 4 years of lost earnings.
 
The only STAFF rph making 160k base is kaiser... 78/hr + Some select hospital staffs. No one in retail as staff will ever come close to this hrly base.

Most here said they make 170-200k but never mention they do tons of OTs and always work more than 40h/w. Sometimes even failed to disclose bonus. Or, forgot to say they are a manager and stay 1 hr extra everyday. You are just working more, you aren't getting paid more LMAO. Base pay in retail staff CA is really 65-73 depending on area. It ain't 160k (78/hr).
 
where the hell did you get 160k in cali from?!
 
I might be economically viable to pay a strong retail drone 160k/year. Not so much your typical pharmacist.
 
Momus said:
The only STAFF rph making 160k base is kaiser... 78/hr + Some select hospital staffs. No one in retail as staff will ever come close to this hrly base.

Most here said they make 170-200k but never mention they do tons of OTs and always work more than 40h/w. Sometimes even failed to disclose bonus. Or, forgot to say they are a manager and stay 1 hr extra everyday. You are just working more, you aren't getting paid more LMAO. Base pay in retail staff CA is really 65-73 depending on area. It ain't 160k (78/hr).
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As staff in retail you are correct you will not. You get redlined much faster. Manager in retail is another story. I’m a couple hundred dollars shy of 160k base. Thats 40hr/week no bonus. Hoping with raises this year to top that but not sure if i’ll be redlined yet lol and of course in CA you are dumb if you don’t take advantage of OT. Its x 1.5 not like other states where its an extra $5 lol this helps most of us top well over 200k. Yes you work more but hell it feels good to make over 110/hr sometimes. Don’t be hater.
 
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Deja said:
where the hell did you get 160k in cali from?!
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Its easy, new grads are starting around $68/hr here now, a couple raises and take over as manager your close to mid 70’s. You just have to play the game right. Thats what it is.
 
Is CVS still giving raises? WM is capping the vast majority of raises at 50 cents ($1.50 for EE and $2.50 for role model)
 
stoichiometrist said:
We are underpaid when you take into account our student loan burdens and 4 years of lost earnings.
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I don't understand this line of thinking. Our employers should pay us more because pharmacy school is expensive? You can rack up plenty of debt obtaining a Masters degree in art, history, social science, etc. Should they be paid more too?
 
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6GodPharm said:
As staff in retail you are correct you will not. You get redlined much faster. Manager in retail is another story. I’m a couple hundred dollars shy of 160k base. Thats 40hr/week no bonus. Hoping with raises this year to top that but not sure if i’ll be redlined yet lol and of course in CA you are dumb if you don’t take advantage of OT. Its x 1.5 not like other states where its an extra $5 lol this helps most of us top well over 200k. Yes you work more but hell it feels good to make over 110/hr sometimes. Don’t be hater.
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You are repeating what I just said. I'm glad you get the point.

You still don't make 160k base as a manager and you live in sh1tty area, sh1tty school for your kids, sh1tty weather. Hope you love to live there forever, props to you. You talked to someone who got offered 80/hr in the same sh1tty area as MANAGER with rent paid and 15k/yr hard to staff area retention bonus. I turned it down in no less then 2 secs lmao. No point to live in no mans land when you're 33 with a NW closing in 2M in a yr or two.
 
Sine Cura said:
Is CVS still giving raises? WM is capping the vast majority of raises at 50 cents ($1.50 for EE and $2.50 for role model)
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With walmart, you need to negotiate hard when you first got hired. They low ball the fu3k out of you. But if you negotiate hard, you will get paid at market rate. One of my friends got 76/hr first foot on the door as manager in Walmart around Coachella area just a month ago. I wouldn't take his job because I live in Sun Diego 🙂
 
Digsbe said:
The 25 Most Underpaid Jobs In America

Came across this link, it says Pharmacists are the 5th most underpaid job in the US and that our current market value is $141,261.

I question how they come up with these results given saturated markets, but I'd love to see salaries rise like that. If it's economically viable to pay a pharmacist standard 160k in CA I don't see why other states it cannot be like that. It appears the market is heading the other way though with major chains implementing raise freezes (I received 0 raise) and some offers for new grads being lower than previous years. However, given the revenue we generate in most markets and the liability/responsibility given to us we are likely worth more in my opinion.
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What would most pharmacy in retail do their employer cut their pay by 20K? The retail pharmacy market is dominated by a few select companies such as CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, Walmart, RiteAid
 
Momus said:
The only STAFF rph making 160k base is kaiser... 78/hr + Some select hospital staffs. No one in retail as staff will ever come close to this hrly base.

Most here said they make 170-200k but never mention they do tons of OTs and always work more than 40h/w. Sometimes even failed to disclose bonus. Or, forgot to say they are a manager and stay 1 hr extra everyday. You are just working more, you aren't getting paid more LMAO. Base pay in retail staff CA is really 65-73 depending on area. It ain't 160k (78/hr).
Click to expand...

Numbers are a hard truth and constantly under or overstated, depending on the situation.
 
I think that instead of complaining about how much a pharmacist makes or should make, we should be fighting to pay the pharmacy technicians more money.. after all, they make your life easier..

I start pharmacy school in 124 days - after being a technician for over 10 years..


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FinallyOnTrack said:
I think that instead of complaining about how much a pharmacist makes or should make, we should be fighting to pay the pharmacy technicians more money.. after all, they make your life easier..

I start pharmacy school in 124 days - after being a technician for over 10 years..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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No
Theres no liability in that job. Customer complaints, typing stuff wrong and filling stuff all still falls on the pharmacists. Inventory and everything still falls on us. I think $13-20 range is fair for that job. 95% of techs can go home and not care about whats going on or what happened in the pharmacy. Us as RPH can’t most of the time.
 
6GodPharm said:
No
Theres no liability in that job. Customer complaints, typing stuff wrong and filling stuff all still falls on the pharmacists. Inventory and everything still falls on us. I think $13-20 range is fair for that job. 95% of techs can go home and not care about whats going on or what happened in the pharmacy. Us as RPH can’t most of the time.
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13-20 is a HUGE range. I think most people would agree that 20 is at least fair for technicians. 13 is probably too low. Keep in mind that many technicians don't even start at 13.
 
Techs are your backbone. Show them some love.
 
6GodPharm said:
Its easy, new grads are starting around $68/hr here now, a couple raises and take over as manager your close to mid 70’s. You just have to play the game right. Thats what it is.
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where the hell did you get new grad start at $68 from?! maybe in the armpits of cali lol
 
6GodPharm said:
No
Theres no liability in that job. Customer complaints, typing stuff wrong and filling stuff all still falls on the pharmacists. Inventory and everything still falls on us. I think $13-20 range is fair for that job. 95% of techs can go home and not care about whats going on or what happened in the pharmacy. Us as RPH can’t most of the time.
Click to expand...

I can basically run a pharmacy - with or without a pharmacist there.. the only reason why I say “without” is because we have had some older pharmacists that come in, sit in one spot, and do not move, we bring baskets to them - they check them - and I checked behind them insuring they didn’t miss anything or miss an error.. (which happened frequently with a lot of RPhOnTheGo Pharmacists)..

A lot of techs barely enter the market at $10.00 an hour.. when I left my retail job, for the hospital, I took an $8.00 pay cut, (from $25 to $17) and was offered $30 to come back and not go to pharmacy school..

If that shows you anything about my “talent” or “experience”.. I have been a “lead” tech for nearly 9 of my 10 years as a technician.. I took ownership of the pharmacy - those patients that came into the pharmacy were my patients..

I feel like, with all of the rules and regulations increasing what techs can do, they should get some sort of compensation - at least $18-$20/hour...

And let’s be honest - YOU can’t do YOUR job properly as a pharmacist without the support and backbone of YOUR technicians..

If you have only worked with crappy techs - that sucks for you - but there are amazing techs out there and they definitely don’t deserve the compensation they are getting right now..
 
owlegrad said:
13-20 is a HUGE range. I think most people would agree that 20 is at least fair for technicians. 13 is probably too low. Keep in mind that many technicians don't even start at 13.
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$20 is fair for good ones but lets be real, about 80% deserve less than $15/hr.
 
Deja said:
where the hell did you get new grad start at $68 from?! maybe in the armpits of cali lol
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$68/hr is cvs new grad rate just about everywhere in CA. Might be just a tad lower in SF/LA/SD areas.
 
Momus said:
You are repeating what I just said. I'm glad you get the point.

You still don't make 160k base as a manager and you live in sh1tty area, sh1tty school for your kids, sh1tty weather. Hope you love to live there forever, props to you. You talked to someone who got offered 80/hr in the same sh1tty area as MANAGER with rent paid and 15k/yr hard to staff area retention bonus. I turned it down in no less then 2 secs lmao. No point to live in no mans land when you're 33 with a NW closing in 2M in a yr or two.
Click to expand...
My area is actually no longer hard to staff, its areas about an hour or so away on the way to SF or LA that are now hard to staff. Theres no right or wrong, everyone tries so hard to be right on this forum all the time it’s pretty sad lol From your post your ok making less and thats cool, your into stocks really cool. Lets be real most new grad RPH’s are not. Why the hell would you want no OT, less pay and live on a huge budget in those expensive cities (directed at new grads not you, just making it clear because anything anyone says gets to you really hard). I visit those cities often, don’t really live on a budget and send well over 5k a month to loans. I have a 4 car garage, 6 bedroom house with a movie theater in it lol I don’t complain about my pay because I make real good money. You’re good in your area thats awesome, i’m happy making the money I make and visiting those areas often. I don’t want to pay 5k a month for a 1 bedroom condo. I like my house and as soon as my loan is paid I will like my 6 figure car. It’s just preference. I go on vacation out of the country 3x a year Hawaii, Caribbeans and Cancun. I wouldn’t be able to afford that if I lived in those cities with less pay and no OT. Am I right? No, are you? No, it’s preference.
 
6GodPharm said:
My area is actually no longer hard to staff, its areas about an hour or so away on the way to SF or LA that are now hard to staff. Theres no right or wrong, everyone tries so hard to be right on this forum all the time it’s pretty sad lol From your post your ok making less and thats cool, your into stocks really cool. Lets be real most new grad RPH’s are not. Why the hell would you want no OT, less pay and live on a huge budget in those expensive cities (directed at new grads not you, just making it clear because anything anyone says gets to you really hard). I visit those cities often, don’t really live on a budget and send well over 5k a month to loans. I have a 4 car garage, 6 bedroom house with a movie theater in it lol I don’t complain about my pay because I make real good money. You’re good in your area thats awesome, i’m happy making the money I make and visiting those areas often. I don’t want to pay 5k a month for a 1 bedroom condo. I like my house and as soon as my loan is paid I will like my 6 figure car. It’s just preference. I go on vacation out of the country 3x a year Hawaii, Caribbeans and Cancun. I wouldn’t be able to afford that if I lived in those cities with less pay and no OT. Am I right? No, are you? No, it’s preference.
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6 figure car?!?!? Youve peaked my curiosity. What u got in mind!
 
Momus said:
With walmart, you need to negotiate hard when you first got hired. They low ball the fu3k out of you. But if you negotiate hard, you will get paid at market rate. One of my friends got 76/hr first foot on the door as manager in Walmart around Coachella area just a month ago. I wouldn't take his job because I live in Sun Diego 🙂
Click to expand...

If it's NHM I would steer clear even as a manager. Or you could take it knowing there's probably a time limit on your WM career. Check this post in 10 years and see if any NHM still exist with pharmacy inside.

FinallyOnTrack said:
I think that instead of complaining about how much a pharmacist makes or should make, we should be fighting to pay the pharmacy technicians more money.. after all, they make your life easier..

I start pharmacy school in 124 days - after being a technician for over 10 years..
Click to expand...

Or they can do their job correctly like they are expected to do. Market conditions will never support a "good" wage for pharmacy technicians proportionate to what a strong tech is capable of, which is too bad. Instead it's a merry-go-round of mediocre to dumber-than-a-rock techs typically. Run an in window for 8 hours by yourself with constant drop-off traffic (not rebills just free clinic **** and ED ****) and do 150+ inputs with minimal NDC changes. Or fill 40-5o Rx an hour while getting the phone. That's what I would consider actually a minimum standard for competence
 
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FinallyOnTrack said:
I can basically run a pharmacy - with or without a pharmacist there.. the only reason why I say “without” is because we have had some older pharmacists that come in, sit in one spot, and do not move, we bring baskets to them - they check them - and I checked behind them insuring they didn’t miss anything or miss an error.. (which happened frequently with a lot of RPhOnTheGo Pharmacists)..

A lot of techs barely enter the market at $10.00 an hour.. when I left my retail job, for the hospital, I took an $8.00 pay cut, (from $25 to $17) and was offered $30 to come back and not go to pharmacy school..

If that shows you anything about my “talent” or “experience”.. I have been a “lead” tech for nearly 9 of my 10 years as a technician.. I took ownership of the pharmacy - those patients that came into the pharmacy were my patients..

I feel like, with all of the rules and regulations increasing what techs can do, they should get some sort of compensation - at least $18-$20/hour...

And let’s be honest - YOU can’t do YOUR job properly as a pharmacist without the support and backbone of YOUR technicians..

If you have only worked with crappy techs - that sucks for you - but there are amazing techs out there and they definitely don’t deserve the compensation they are getting right now..
Click to expand...

Sounds like we have another WebMD technician thinking just because you can find something online, that must mean anyone can do our job.

You have a long road ahead of you before you'll have my knowledge.
 
wagrxm2000 said:
Sounds like we have another WebMD technician thinking just because you can find something online, that must mean anyone can do our job.

You have a long road ahead of you before you'll have my knowledge.
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Far from that.. I understand that there is a great deal about pharmacy that I don’t understand or know just yet..

I would never use WebMD for anything..

I have access to F&C along with Clin-Pharm.. but doesn’t mean I will over step my boundary to counsel a patient or discuss anything with them.. the only time I use the two above resources is if the patient is wanting some sort of print out about their medication or if they come in asking for us to identify a pill..

I will say that I do know a lot more about pharmacy that your average technician.. I know more about the dynamics of it, what it takes to open a pharmacy, and even the acquisition of another pharmacy as I have experienced it all..

I would never second guess a pharmacist or go against what they say - regardless if I think they’re right or wrong.. I understand I haven’t had the training and education that they have had.. if I feel like one is being careless then I may double check behind them..

In fact - One of the things that I caught was a patient was dispensed a heparin flush instead of a normal saline flush.. the argument was that one of the barcodes on the box matches the middle 4 of the ndc number and they just assumed it was right.. luckily, it was caught before it got to the patient..


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FinallyOnTrack said:
Far from that.. I understand that there is a great deal about pharmacy that I don’t understand or know just yet..

I would never use WebMD for anything..

I have access to F&C along with Clin-Pharm.. but doesn’t mean I will over step my boundary to counsel a patient or discuss anything with them.. the only time I use the two above resources is if the patient is wanting some sort of print out about their medication or if they come in asking for us to identify a pill..

I will say that I do know a lot more about pharmacy that your average technician.. I know more about the dynamics of it, what it takes to open a pharmacy, and even the acquisition of another pharmacy as I have experienced it all..

I would never second guess a pharmacist or go against what they say - regardless if I think they’re right or wrong.. I understand I haven’t had the training and education that they have had.. if I feel like one is being careless then I may double check behind them..

In fact - One of the things that I caught was a patient was dispensed a heparin flush instead of a normal saline flush.. the argument was that one of the barcodes on the box matches the middle 4 of the ndc number and they just assumed it was right.. luckily, it was caught before it got to the patient..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

This doesn't mean technicians should be paid more though. Unfortunately for technicians, corporate doesn't view them as valuable. They are seen as easily replaceable. The same is now seen in pharmacists and our salaries will now become stagnant.
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
Chik Fil A is hiring at $13/hr
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And they have the best fast food workers anywhere. Everything is their pleasure. it's actually kind of creepy.

6GodPharm said:
$20 is fair for good ones but lets be real, about 80% deserve less than $15/hr.
Click to expand...

And we get what we pay for. The reason there are so many crappy techs is because we are competing with Chik Fil A for employees.
 
good techs should be paid minimum $20/hour. techs that don't give a damn and are only working part time and planning to leave eventually should get $12
 
FinallyOnTrack said:
I can basically run a pharmacy - with or without a pharmacist there.. the only reason why I say “without” is because we have had some older pharmacists that come in, sit in one spot, and do not move, we bring baskets to them - they check them - and I checked behind them insuring they didn’t miss anything or miss an error.. (which happened frequently with a lot of RPhOnTheGo Pharmacists)..
...
If that shows you anything about my “talent” or “experience”.. I have been a “lead” tech for nearly 9 of my 10 years as a technician.. I took ownership of the pharmacy - those patients that came into the pharmacy were my patients..
Click to expand...
I think you will soon find there is much more to this job than you have any idea about. While I agree that good techs are essential and should be paid well, technicians who think they are pharmacists are another breed entirely and put my license at risk. A tech with the attitude you’ve stated above is a huge risk. I’d rather not work with them.
 
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radio frequency said:
A tech with the attitude you’ve stated above is a huge risk. I’d rather not work with them.
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Please do tell me more about how I am a “huge risk”..

If you’re referring to double checking a fill in pharmacist - I should have mentioned that I was asked to do so by the owner (a RPh) of the independent pharmacy because of errors they caught on other days..

One day, I’ll be licensed - and I would definitely appreciate your comments on the different “tech personalities”..


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FinallyOnTrack said:
Please do tell me more about how I am a “huge risk”..

If you’re referring to double checking a fill in pharmacist - I should have mentioned that I was asked to do so by the owner (a RPh) of the independent pharmacy because of errors they caught on other days..

One day, I’ll be licensed - and I would definitely appreciate your comments on the different “tech personalities”..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Our job isn’t solely to ensure that script output matches input from the prescriber. We need the knowledge of appropriate drugs and doses for disease states, as well as the knowledge of when something critical is missing or when a drug interaction exists that doesn’t get flagged in the computer. We need to know the absolute letter of the law.

Technicians often assume they know some of this. Sometimes they do. But you can’t know what you don’t know. That’s where the risk comes from: overconfidence in your minimal skill set. Trying to play pharmacist because you truly think you know as much.

I’ve had techs with this attitude try to get away with a lot of things (not following proper DEA policy on controls, assuming drugs were fine together because they normally are, and getting angry when contradicted by the pharmacist who had to call due to a disease state interaction...) because they assumed they knew better. Not worth it. At the end of the day, the pharmacist is the one with the license on the line, not the technician.
 
Maybe I’m different - I understand that I don’t have the knowledge, experience, and a RPh license on the wall - so I never try to play the part..

Now, when it comes down to the pharmacist asking me to look over a fill in - I don’t see that as over stepping - because the only thing I’m doing is putting one more set of eyes on the Rx before it goes out the door.. as I mentioned earlier - I caught a heparin flush that was miss-filled and signed off on by a fill in pharmacist.. it was suppose to be a normal saline flush for the patients trach.. I’ve caught other mistakes as well - which IMO a technician shouldn’t be asked to double check behind a pharmacist - the filling tech should have double checked their self and these errors should have never made it to the RPh.. (which, IMO the techs that make constant errors don’t deserve $20/hour)

I know that certain disease states call for anti-coagulants with anti-platelets while others call for one or the other..

I’m not claiming to be the smartest or best technician out there - but I take pride in my work and I truly love dealing with my patients.. I am always looking for ways to help the RPh out by trying to do as much as I am legally allowed to do..

At the end of the day, my job boils down to making your job (the RPh) easier..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
FinallyOnTrack said:
Maybe I’m different - I understand that I don’t have the knowledge, experience, and a RPh license on the wall - so I never try to play the part..

Now, when it comes down to the pharmacist asking me to look over a fill in - I don’t see that as over stepping - because the only thing I’m doing is putting one more set of eyes on the Rx before it goes out the door.. as I mentioned earlier - I caught a heparin flush that was miss-filled and signed off on by a fill in pharmacist.. it was suppose to be a normal saline flush for the patients trach.. I’ve caught other mistakes as well - which IMO a technician shouldn’t be asked to double check behind a pharmacist - the filling tech should have double checked their self and these errors should have never made it to the RPh.. (which, IMO the techs that make constant errors don’t deserve $20/hour)

I know that certain disease states call for anti-coagulants with anti-platelets while others call for one or the other..

I’m not claiming to be the smartest or best technician out there - but I take pride in my work and I truly love dealing with my patients.. I am always looking for ways to help the RPh out by trying to do as much as I am legally allowed to do..

At the end of the day, my job boils down to making your job (the RPh) easier..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You would drive me crazy, I could see you putting your two cents into every conversation.

There's a difference between being an excellent tech and doing too much.
 
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