CVS or Walgreens?

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tobepharmd

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Staff position with CVS but 45 minutes from home (out in the boonies) or floating position with Walgreens closer to home but less pay....which one would you guys choose? Pros/cons breakdown?

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Staff with CVS as long as it is the second pharmacist spot, which should be fairly immune to cuts......They say staff a lot, then you get on board and find out they are floating you everywhere to get your hours. Walgreens just offered me 54/hr to float in FL.... i am saying no tomorrow. Why? because those spots are very susceptible to cuts as walgreens will be cost cutting through at least 2022 per the company. (i am currently a WM manager though, so i can be a little picky until i find what i want). All companies are lowering salaries and pushing you to the brink of quitting or screwing up and getting in trouble. It's being done by every major company and with good reason.

Take the staff spot with CVS, and DO NOT MANAGE.......walgreens has fast become the worst since they failed to meet their quarterly stock goal for the shareholders this year.....they have literally VOWED to cut operating costs until 2022 to recover!

All they are offering at WAGS is floating spots for a reason.....simply to burn you out and drive the rates down for pharm pay. I know for a fact Sept 1st they are dropping salaries.....i bet they forgot to tell you that.
 
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I would take the CVS staff position. I feel like the CVS staff position with your own store is the safer route in terms of guaranteed hours and lesser chance of getting laid off compared to being a floater. Also, depending on how big your district is, they could float you out to stores that could also be 45 mins away or even more anyways.
 
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CVS staff! immune to cuts. Floating sucks in general, would get tiring if you had to deal with new techs who do not take you seriously. Happed to lot of floaters who started as new grads. Also with floating you never know if you would get a staff position in near future.
 
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There are 3 things to consider: 1) what are your end goals? 2) how fast of a worker are you? 3) which DM/Supe do you click with more?

Floating generally sucks as you don’t know your schedule until the last minute. The only plus I see in floating is if your ultimate end goal is to leave retail. Every store you float at is an opportunity to meet more pharmacists and hopefully to impress them and build your network. But you have to be that rock star floater that everyone wants at their store. During my short stint as a floater I’ve made some good impressions and was asked to apply to the FDA, NIH, AstraZen, and also my current job, which is now my full time job. And in retail, a “good” pharmacist is a fast one. So perhaps you should assess yourself on how fast you are. Are you generally quick with manual tasks or do you need to take your time with movements? How fast is your gait? If you’re a slowpoke, I would just stick with staff at CVS. If you’re fast and “good,” then it’s not a bad idea to float at Walgreens until you get to where you wanna be, even if it is to become a staffer at a store near your home. But also, given the new climate of job scarcity and over supply of pharmacists, maybe taking the staff position is your best bet. Also another thing to consider is your impression/relationship with the DM/Supe of Wags/CVS. Having a good relationship with your boss can make or break your career. Who do you click with more?

And at the end of the day, money is obviously a factor in decisions too. CVS matches 5% of your 401k vs 4% at Walgreens. Walgreens hasn’t given raises in 2 years. For money alone—CVS wins.
 
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Floating sucks. CVS sucks too but if it's in the boonies then the volume should be tolerable.
 
CVS is considered to be the most cutthroat, toxic and unsafe place to work in retail pharmacy by everyone I have spoken to.

Wag at least doesn’t have the metrics on how long did it take to answer the drive though, or doing mandatory compliance calls (unless something changed in last year).
 
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At the end of the day, salaries will continue to drop, as the companies move more towards automation/technology to reduce labor. They will keep the working conditions un-bearable to crack current pharms and turn over their stock to allow the cheaper labor in year by year..... this is becoming nothing more than revolving doors for the companies benefit. Why do you think CVS advocated to open MORE pharmacy schools a while back? they were thinking ahead. Dont be so foolish as to think that if they know they can drop salaries, then whats the next logical step? eliminate current pharm stock who are now considered over-paid.....no? i would if i owned the company and was looking at this from a macro perspective based on millions of dollars saved.....and so would each one of you....how long will they continue to pay a staff pharm 60-65/hr when the rates hit 45 or below? cmon....everything they do points to alleviating you of your job....not helping you be successful and retain you.....read between the lines....
 
CVS is considered to be the most cutthroat, toxic and unsafe place to work in retail pharmacy by everyone I have spoken to.

Wag at least doesn’t have the metrics on how long did it take to answer the drive though, or doing mandatory compliance calls (unless something changed in last year).

They do - wags actually has a metric that tracks how long it takes you to take a leak while at work. It is discussed with you every morning and the store manager will share ideas with you on how to reduce the time it takes you to pee.
 
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I'd pick the CVS position.

I know for a fact Walgreens is cutting salaries this upcoming Sept 1st. One of my friends who is a Grad Intern right now at Walgreens told me that he has to be fully licensed and get his job offer prior to Sept 1st or he would get a lower starting salary. And being said, the floaters I worked with a Walgreens all told me that they keep getting their shifts given to other people last minute so they are struggling to even get hours. CVS isn't too much better tho as the 1 pharmacy manager I know at CVS tells me a lot of the new hires now are getting burned out within a year and going to independents because of how miserable they are treated with being understaffed and underworked.
 
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They do - wags actually has a metric that tracks how long it takes you to take a leak while at work. It is discussed with you every morning and the store manager will share ideas with you on how to reduce the time it takes you to pee.

Well i drink a LOT of water, few liters a day.....so P**S off!.....lol
 
I'd pick the CVS position.

I know for a fact Walgreens is cutting salaries this upcoming Sept 1st. One of my friends who is a Grad Intern right now at Walgreens told me that he has to be fully licensed and get his job offer prior to Sept 1st or he would get a lower starting salary. And being said, the floaters I worked with a Walgreens all told me that they keep getting their shifts given to other people last minute so they are struggling to even get hours. CVS isn't too much better tho as the 1 pharmacy manager I know at CVS tells me a lot of the new hires now are getting burned out within a year and going to independents because of how miserable they are treated with being understaffed and underworked.

Can confirm....heard the same directly from a hiring DM's fat mouth.....he offered me a job in florida floating, 54/hr 32/wk and said but we need you here by august 20th ( this was like August 1 maybe lol) I gotta relocate from CO.... "Because Our rates are dropping after that" was what he said....The steel ballz on this guy to talk to someone like that. In some nice words i later said go F**K yourself....
 
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