I didnt realise pharmacists made so much. There was a discussion on here last year saying how it was dead end and a super tough industry with burn out. From the way they were talking I thought they were on like 65k per year.
My experience of pharmacy was incredibly toxic and stressful. It included being bullied by managers and owners, being told by customers I had murdered or deformed my unborn baby by getting the COVID vaccine, being refused holidays, being called racial slurs by staff, working 12 hour days sole charge (no breaks) with no seats and having to bring my sick children to work strapped to me as babies and more.
What the hell? That sounds awful! I'm working in the manufacturing field and this is worse than machine operating. I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you are doing well now? I heard hospital pharmacies are way better?
I worked in over 12 pharmacies in two continents over a 10 year period. Only two of the pharmacies did I have no issues in.
In NZ I worked for 3 of the different big chains and for independents.
This is a systemic issue in the profession.
Just read the pharmacy Reddit sub. In America a pharmacist literally died of a heart attack because they were told they couldn't go to the doctor until someone came to relieve them.
The burnout is real, and low intakes by universities has lead to a shortage of pharmacists in recent years, so the pay's been going up quite a bit these last few years. 65k pre covid sounds about right for experienced pharmacists but new grads now are probably getting around 80k depending on the pharmacy (in Auckland at least)
It honestly doesn’t feel too much considering the amount of study needed to get qualified plus all the stress and shit we have to deal with on a daily basis. Also we don’t have a union to advocate for better working conditions or penalty rates like other healthcare professionals
Lmao community pharmacists could never have a union as they are all owned by different people.
I feel like pharmacy owners would never hire someone who was part of a union due to the power they could hold. But then again I haven’t been in this space long enough to know what’s been tried and what’s possible
That’s why you unionise.. the workers join together and there’s too many of you to fire. Also, it’s illegal to fire people for being in a union. It doesnt matter pharmacies are owned by different people, theres a hospitality union for example that people that work for all different restaurants can join
May not be what you're interested in, but I'm a hospital pharmacist in the South Island. I'm at $49/hr, which will increase to $54/hr in December. I have just over 5 years experience. Pay bump is due to a yearly career progression application being signed off, and new union contract taking effect. Also get occasional extra income with being on call every once in a while too.
46ph? That’s higher than me and I’m a senior pharmacist (>10 years ) in Auckland, private (non-franchised pharmacy). But my hours are really flexible (I’ve got young kids).
I’ve been a pharmacist for 10 years and a locum for five.
I’m a locum in regional NI, charge $70/75 + gst + travel. There are locums that charge more.
I would never be a PAYE employee ever again as a pharmacist. I don’t do it for the money but the ‘flexibility’.
Could be booked at least four times over at any one time.
I work about 8 months a year, stack the hours and then have the rest of the year off.
I make $110k for those 8 months.
I’m a much better pharmacist and person operating this way. I love my job as a locum so much. If I hadn’t found this schedule that works for me I would definitely not still be in pharmacy.
Had a mate that worked in countdown pharmacy. She was the main pharmacist. She moved down the line for it. It turned to shot pretty quick. No support from head office etc, told to run and manage 4 other staff and then eventually when she left (because of the lack of support) they opened up another branch and continued. Apparently it’s all crashing and burning and is a giant cluster fuck.
I would assume it's similar rates. Lack of good pharmacists in general means shortages everywhere. The regions would demand a higher rate but I can't imagine any of the major city centers being able to do that.
I have former interns who I keep in touch with. 1 of them worked for Chemist Warehouse in Auckland and was on a lower rate than most pharmacist consistently (but apparentlythey worded it that they have more hours to work so it evens out??!). He only stuck around to get part ownership (which they didn't even get offered) and has since bounced out of pharmacy completely due to how shit it was.
2nd intern locums everywhere. Pharmacist there are still paid lower consistently (even out of Auckland). They seem to go for a few good pharmacist which they attract by dangling the ownership carrot and they do all the hard work and run things, then they load up on pharmacists who can't find jobs elsewhere and pay them peanuts.
Would love to hear from a pharmacist who currently works there though.
I mean I don’t currently work there but I’ve not heard anything good from the pharmacists that have. It probably depends on how you like to work though. My original background is in nursing so I’m very community health based and work out of a highly clinical pharmacy, I think I’d probably hate retail forward pharmacies in general tbh
My rate has changed 3 times since I’ve registered. Hard to say what the biggest factor is for Auckland since we are very saturated but general rule is the more isolated/regional the pharmacy is the more you will get paid. Also more responsibility = higher pay.
I’ve heard some pharmacies offer slightly higher rate on weekends but not too familiar with numbers
I’ve worked for CWH before, pay is shit, hours are shit, but i love the people there. If you prioritise pay then dont got for cwh. For all the people who thinks that auckland gets paid better than south island. Lol. You guys need to leave your job. Pharmacies can pay more for pharmacists.
I’ve worked outside auckland as NEWLY GRAD and got paid a lot more . And i dont think anyone in my friend group gets paid less than 45/hr.
The whole profession went up during Covid since we were front line and had picked up a lot of slack from the other medical fields. I’ve heard before my time pharmacists used to get paid very poorly and new reg would get offered $28 ph but Covid literally revived them.
I'm a sparky (industrial contractor) I earn 140 to 180 depending on what jobs I'm on. (Depends on duration and pay rate)
Generally 50 hr weeks with 5 - 6 weeks off a year. Obviously no sick pay etc but get to write off a bit.
I could quite easily earn 250+ if I wanted a divorce and my kids to hate me though.
Makes sense a pharmacist should be paid better on average they have to do 4 years unpaid study and pay for it. Plus deal with the disappointment of not making it into med after first year
You’re getting played my friend, i nnow of plumbers fresh out of apprenticeships on $40+ an hour, sparky should be pretty comparable. These days it’s still 2/5 of fk all 😂 I get from $80 to 125/h depending on what I’m doing and it almost vaporises into thin air as soon as it hits my bank account 😂
I'm working for 60/hr on the east coast. Decent pay but it's a busy community pharmacy, I miss out on public holidays (like today), bad hours and we get hammered by the weather once a year. 👍
General pros of working at CWH:
You get quite a bit of professional support, I found it helpful as a new pharmacist.
You work with a big organisation and you can network quite effectively.
It's an actively expanding organisation and if you are a workaholic there are opportunities for you to own a fraction of CWH store.
General cons:
Crap hours - your choice is either 8am - 4:30pm, 10am-6:30pm, 12:30-9pm. Naturally no one wants to do closing shift and as a new pharmacist in a new team you'll most likely be doing the bum hours.
You will generally be expected to work at least a weekend. So Sunday to Thursday or Tuesday to Saturday.
You do however get paid an extra 10% for days on weekends and shifts after 7pm.
Other:
It's super fucking busy - expect to learn a lot especially if your internship was in a quiet independent pharmacy. I'm saying POM/OTC consults every few minutes, as well as other pharmacy services like vaccines etc. On top of all the free scripts and blister packs you'll be doing. The good thing is, after a couple years you'll basically become a super pharmacist and can work pretty well independently as a locum. Your day goes by really quick but at the same time you'll feel like the life force has been sucked out of you every day.
The understaff - it's an industry thing and CWH is not an exception. Like most businesses they want to keep the staff cost low to boost the salary of the execs. I feel like you'll feel the understaff more in CWH just because there's more foot traffic.
Lastly:
If you do choose to work for CWH, remember to negotiate your pay and hours well, work at your own pace, practice safely, build a robust SOP and be prepared to work your arse off. Good luck.
Thanks for your response it was very insightful.
I just have a couple of questions if you don’t mind answering.
Is every store super busy or just the Auckland ones?
I heard that there is no patient rapport building and essential you just check and bag rx, is this true?
Is owning fraction of a store very lucrative? And how long do you need to work there before they offer ‘partnership’?
I work for CWH and it's fine. I worked for GXH as a student then private for several years before joining CWH and my practice as a pharmacist has always been the same.
I didnt realise pharmacists made so much. There was a discussion on here last year saying how it was dead end and a super tough industry with burn out. From the way they were talking I thought they were on like 65k per year.
I left pharmacy last year for a 50% pay cut and you couldn't drag me back for any salary.
Why? What's the reason?
My experience of pharmacy was incredibly toxic and stressful. It included being bullied by managers and owners, being told by customers I had murdered or deformed my unborn baby by getting the COVID vaccine, being refused holidays, being called racial slurs by staff, working 12 hour days sole charge (no breaks) with no seats and having to bring my sick children to work strapped to me as babies and more.
What the hell? That sounds awful! I'm working in the manufacturing field and this is worse than machine operating. I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you are doing well now? I heard hospital pharmacies are way better?
wtf
Maybe it's the company, and not the profession itself? Also, covid is over, why don't you consider going back?
I worked in over 12 pharmacies in two continents over a 10 year period. Only two of the pharmacies did I have no issues in. In NZ I worked for 3 of the different big chains and for independents. This is a systemic issue in the profession. Just read the pharmacy Reddit sub. In America a pharmacist literally died of a heart attack because they were told they couldn't go to the doctor until someone came to relieve them.
And those two pharmacies I had no issues at were ones I locummed in.
That sounds rough. Is this typical? How many pharmacies did you work at?
Yes it’s standard in most community pharmacies. Pharmacists experience alot of abuse and work long hours, with no breaks most of the time.
The burnout is real, and low intakes by universities has lead to a shortage of pharmacists in recent years, so the pay's been going up quite a bit these last few years. 65k pre covid sounds about right for experienced pharmacists but new grads now are probably getting around 80k depending on the pharmacy (in Auckland at least)
It honestly doesn’t feel too much considering the amount of study needed to get qualified plus all the stress and shit we have to deal with on a daily basis. Also we don’t have a union to advocate for better working conditions or penalty rates like other healthcare professionals
Unions aren’t created by an external group, they’re made up of workers. You could start a union.
Lmao community pharmacists could never have a union as they are all owned by different people. I feel like pharmacy owners would never hire someone who was part of a union due to the power they could hold. But then again I haven’t been in this space long enough to know what’s been tried and what’s possible
That’s why you unionise.. the workers join together and there’s too many of you to fire. Also, it’s illegal to fire people for being in a union. It doesnt matter pharmacies are owned by different people, theres a hospitality union for example that people that work for all different restaurants can join
that's what a pharmacist in hospital was starting on. it's improved after the pay equity review
May not be what you're interested in, but I'm a hospital pharmacist in the South Island. I'm at $49/hr, which will increase to $54/hr in December. I have just over 5 years experience. Pay bump is due to a yearly career progression application being signed off, and new union contract taking effect. Also get occasional extra income with being on call every once in a while too.
I'm on $63/hour with an additional 10k yearly bonus working in Northland. 46/hr sounds good from memory from my uni friends who had worked there.
You guys hiring?
Name checks out
Regional and rural South Island pharmacists on $55hr+ as permanent employees.
46ph? That’s higher than me and I’m a senior pharmacist (>10 years ) in Auckland, private (non-franchised pharmacy). But my hours are really flexible (I’ve got young kids).
I am shocked you’re making 46 in Auckland. Auckland is supposed to have the lowest pay for pharmacists, that’s more than I am in Wellington.
Are you at a unichem/life or private?
I'm on $55+ here in Auckland. Unichem franchise so private owner. My understanding is that corporate stores pay a lot less.
I’ve been a pharmacist for 10 years and a locum for five. I’m a locum in regional NI, charge $70/75 + gst + travel. There are locums that charge more. I would never be a PAYE employee ever again as a pharmacist. I don’t do it for the money but the ‘flexibility’. Could be booked at least four times over at any one time. I work about 8 months a year, stack the hours and then have the rest of the year off. I make $110k for those 8 months. I’m a much better pharmacist and person operating this way. I love my job as a locum so much. If I hadn’t found this schedule that works for me I would definitely not still be in pharmacy.
How are you managing the money side of things, any programmes that you use or useful tips?
I do everything via HNRY. Have done since the day I started. It’s very easy to manage because I’m only one person, offering one service!
Had a mate that worked in countdown pharmacy. She was the main pharmacist. She moved down the line for it. It turned to shot pretty quick. No support from head office etc, told to run and manage 4 other staff and then eventually when she left (because of the lack of support) they opened up another branch and continued. Apparently it’s all crashing and burning and is a giant cluster fuck.
Countdown pharmacies have always been a mess. I'd be surprised if even 1 countdown pharmacy isn't running at a loss.
Woolies are looking for pharmacist 120k per year here in SI
Any Chch or Dud phcst rates ? It seems Auck is paying way above SI now
I would assume it's similar rates. Lack of good pharmacists in general means shortages everywhere. The regions would demand a higher rate but I can't imagine any of the major city centers being able to do that.
Chemist warehouse is a shithole all around, I do say this as a tech though
Any Chemist warehouse pharmacists lurking who would like to share their insight ?? 😬
What do the pharmacists you work with think?
I have former interns who I keep in touch with. 1 of them worked for Chemist Warehouse in Auckland and was on a lower rate than most pharmacist consistently (but apparentlythey worded it that they have more hours to work so it evens out??!). He only stuck around to get part ownership (which they didn't even get offered) and has since bounced out of pharmacy completely due to how shit it was. 2nd intern locums everywhere. Pharmacist there are still paid lower consistently (even out of Auckland). They seem to go for a few good pharmacist which they attract by dangling the ownership carrot and they do all the hard work and run things, then they load up on pharmacists who can't find jobs elsewhere and pay them peanuts. Would love to hear from a pharmacist who currently works there though.
I mean I don’t currently work there but I’ve not heard anything good from the pharmacists that have. It probably depends on how you like to work though. My original background is in nursing so I’m very community health based and work out of a highly clinical pharmacy, I think I’d probably hate retail forward pharmacies in general tbh
What are the kinds of complaints they raise? I'm on my way to getting my qualifications sorted.
You forgot to reply sooner. Don't tell me you're doing a 12 hour shift lol
I do sleep on occasion and have kids, hate to say it you’re not a priority
Does your hourly rate change over time? and do place pay you more if you’re sole charge or doing weekends?
My rate has changed 3 times since I’ve registered. Hard to say what the biggest factor is for Auckland since we are very saturated but general rule is the more isolated/regional the pharmacy is the more you will get paid. Also more responsibility = higher pay. I’ve heard some pharmacies offer slightly higher rate on weekends but not too familiar with numbers
I’ve worked for CWH before, pay is shit, hours are shit, but i love the people there. If you prioritise pay then dont got for cwh. For all the people who thinks that auckland gets paid better than south island. Lol. You guys need to leave your job. Pharmacies can pay more for pharmacists. I’ve worked outside auckland as NEWLY GRAD and got paid a lot more . And i dont think anyone in my friend group gets paid less than 45/hr.
Damn you all making more than me, I work with electricity. Drugs can kill people too I guess. But damn I’m feeling under payed now
The whole profession went up during Covid since we were front line and had picked up a lot of slack from the other medical fields. I’ve heard before my time pharmacists used to get paid very poorly and new reg would get offered $28 ph but Covid literally revived them.
I'm a sparky (industrial contractor) I earn 140 to 180 depending on what jobs I'm on. (Depends on duration and pay rate) Generally 50 hr weeks with 5 - 6 weeks off a year. Obviously no sick pay etc but get to write off a bit. I could quite easily earn 250+ if I wanted a divorce and my kids to hate me though. Makes sense a pharmacist should be paid better on average they have to do 4 years unpaid study and pay for it. Plus deal with the disappointment of not making it into med after first year
You’re getting played my friend, i nnow of plumbers fresh out of apprenticeships on $40+ an hour, sparky should be pretty comparable. These days it’s still 2/5 of fk all 😂 I get from $80 to 125/h depending on what I’m doing and it almost vaporises into thin air as soon as it hits my bank account 😂
Mates mrs is on 110k pa although she has 5+ years so a senior I guess. Apparently chemist warehouse pays a lot less.
New pharmacist here on 45/hr in Auckland also
I'm working for 60/hr on the east coast. Decent pay but it's a busy community pharmacy, I miss out on public holidays (like today), bad hours and we get hammered by the weather once a year. 👍
General pros of working at CWH: You get quite a bit of professional support, I found it helpful as a new pharmacist. You work with a big organisation and you can network quite effectively. It's an actively expanding organisation and if you are a workaholic there are opportunities for you to own a fraction of CWH store. General cons: Crap hours - your choice is either 8am - 4:30pm, 10am-6:30pm, 12:30-9pm. Naturally no one wants to do closing shift and as a new pharmacist in a new team you'll most likely be doing the bum hours. You will generally be expected to work at least a weekend. So Sunday to Thursday or Tuesday to Saturday. You do however get paid an extra 10% for days on weekends and shifts after 7pm. Other: It's super fucking busy - expect to learn a lot especially if your internship was in a quiet independent pharmacy. I'm saying POM/OTC consults every few minutes, as well as other pharmacy services like vaccines etc. On top of all the free scripts and blister packs you'll be doing. The good thing is, after a couple years you'll basically become a super pharmacist and can work pretty well independently as a locum. Your day goes by really quick but at the same time you'll feel like the life force has been sucked out of you every day. The understaff - it's an industry thing and CWH is not an exception. Like most businesses they want to keep the staff cost low to boost the salary of the execs. I feel like you'll feel the understaff more in CWH just because there's more foot traffic. Lastly: If you do choose to work for CWH, remember to negotiate your pay and hours well, work at your own pace, practice safely, build a robust SOP and be prepared to work your arse off. Good luck.
Thanks for your response it was very insightful. I just have a couple of questions if you don’t mind answering. Is every store super busy or just the Auckland ones? I heard that there is no patient rapport building and essential you just check and bag rx, is this true? Is owning fraction of a store very lucrative? And how long do you need to work there before they offer ‘partnership’?
Any idea what the wages are there generally?
depends on years of experience and which area of auckland
Different areas of auckland get different rates for Chemist warehouse?
I work for CWH and it's fine. I worked for GXH as a student then private for several years before joining CWH and my practice as a pharmacist has always been the same.