Student, Staffing Shortages Continue to Impact Pharmacy Profession
The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased pharmacist burnout and workforce shortages. The impact is still being felt today.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to the health care industry and highlighted significant limitations in global medical care infrastructure. However, some of the most serious issues were the high rates of employee burnout and severe worker shortages seen throughout all sectors. Pharmacists and other pharmacy workers, who stepped up to aid both patients and colleagues during the public health crisis, were hit hard by physical and mental exhaustion. This led to a critical shortage in the pharmacy workforce, the repercussions of which continue to reverberate throughout the field.
More than three-quarters of community pharmacists reported having a difficult time filling open positions. | image credit: Drazen / stock.adobe.com
What’s the Issue?
Before the pandemic, the burnout rate for pharmacists ranged between 40% and 50%, but after the crisis, nearly 9 in 10 pharmacists were found to be at high risk for burnout and 3 in 4 said it was due to COVID-19. One of the main reasons cited for the increased feelings of burnout was staffing and scheduling issues, likely due to a shortage of workers.1
According to a 2022 survey conducted by the National Community Pharmacists Association, more than three-quarters of community pharmacists reported having a difficult time filling open positions.2 But community pharmacies are not the only ones being impacted: Large retail chains such as CVS and Walgreens have also been dealing with employee shortages. In 2023, then-Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer said the company was running into a shortage of job candidates, resulting in limited hours at many of its locations.3
The lack of employees at large retail chains has resulted in long hours, poor working conditions, and increased burnout among staff. Many across the country have staged walkouts in protest, including in Kansas City in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. There, pharmacists at 22 CVS locations did not go to work for several days due to corporate decisions that cut pharmacy technician and store hours, putting patients and staff at risk. One employee involved in the protest said the decision to walk out was made after a manager was fired for refusing to follow the policies.4
By the Numbers
The Occupational Outlook Handbook from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, over the next decade, there will be about 13,400 job openings for pharmacists every year.5 Despite this increasing need, the Health Resources and Services Administration projects that there will be a shortage of nearly 5000 pharmacists over the next 15 years.6 Among the many reasons for the shortage is pharmacists from the baby boomer generation and older members of Generation X are either retiring or leaving the profession altogether due to burnout and insufficient pay.7
According to the National Pharmacist Workforce Studies, conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, 78.5% of pharmacists were working as a pharmacist in 2022, a decrease from 79.8% in 2019.8 Of the 4.9% of pharmacists who were unemployed, 65.7% said that their unemployment was voluntary, a significant increase from 38.9% in 2019. The study also found that 36% of respondents said that it is very likely that they would search for a different job in the next year, and 25% said that they would likely leave their job within the next year.
However, pharmacists deciding to retire or leave the profession is not the only issue. There has also been a decline in applications to pharmacy schools. Since a peak of 17,617 in 2013, the number of verified Pharmacy College Application Service applicants has decreased every year.9 For the 2022-2023 school year, data from Walgreens showed that pharmacy school applications were down 22%.10 A 2023 report from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine found that in 2022, 136 pharmacy schools graduated 13,323 new pharmacists, down from 14,223 in 2021.11
Expert Commentary
“[T]he pharmacist shortage is not just a challenge; it has become a tipping point in raising public awareness of the dire need for accessible health care services and the diverse and rewarding career options available in health care for pharmacists,” Shawn Spencer, PhD, RPh, former dean and chief academic officer of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s School of Pharmacy, said.12 “The urgency to address pharmacy deserts and improve health care access is at an all-time high with far-reaching implications for both the health care industry and underserved communities. This crisis necessitates creative solutions and greater public awareness to ensure equitable access to health care services.”
READ MORE: Reduce the Impact of Staff Shortages With Smarter Purchasing
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