These aren’t just stories . These are facts . If you read online, you’ll also find plenty of articles describing the mass exodus of retail pharmacists nationwide . From a personal standpoint, I live in south Florida and we have more “happy and healthy “ locations down here than anywhere else in the country . I just left my company to work from home but I have never seen how chaotic the company has become with store closures prevalent on a daily basis , reduced hours , lack of predictability whether the pharmacy will be open or not , and just the number of pharmacists gone . I get text messages from DMs almost every day practically begging me to work and asking to even come in for a few hours (if the pharmacy is open 9 to 9, can I come in 10 to 4? Anything is fine I’m told ). The company at this point reeks of desperation . Our scheduler of nearly 2.5 decades has left and even the healthcare supervisor also left within the days . One store I’ve floated at in the past has been closed for 3 days . All the pharmacists who I’ve known for almost 10 years or who have been around 15 or more years are also out . And now I am out too because I just left about a week ago . So, what you are reading or hearing is absolutely true . Even the new grads get hired , stay on 2-3 months, and then leave . Here’s the part I truly don’t get : what kind of corporation doesn’t make a move to retain its remaining personnel or attract new ones ? Most American companies start to offer incentives , increases in salary , etc but happy and healthy has done nothing at all . It’s very scary . It’s as if they want to sink . They’ve made huge amounts of money over the course of the pandemic but with all these store closures, lack of staff , honestly, they are probably beginning to take a hit to their bottom line . It’s very simple : either do something , raise wages, better working conditions , or expect the worst and for things to deteriorate further . The company is now the lowest paying for pharmacists. When I resigned , I had not only the DM call me (which is more expected ), but also had the healthcare supervisor contact me . Are they really surprised ? This company has become too arrogant and their strategy is just not working as they are continuing to lose personnel left and right to CVS, Publix , work from home , hospitals , etc . Do not doubt what you hear - it is all true . The person you cite who does not find a job perhaps is not willing to take a low ball offer . Remember this period of time is the great resignation and millions have left jobs for better opportunities which inspire , appreciate, and motivate . This is now an employees market and employers will have to either get in line and submit to reasonable employee expectations or keep their positions vacant . Remember - employees don’t care one iota about your millions/billion dollar enterprise- they are commoners who have families to support , bills to pay, and a life to live and enjoy . No one cares about company missions or all that mumbo jumbo when people just need to survive . Too much bs from employers these days . Even interviews are basically a lie . People are there to put in their time and go live life . Employers should at least make the time tolerable and the big chains have forgotten they need us as pharmacists more than we need them .
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