Determine competitive pay and total rewards with a salary survey dedicated to the pharmacy sector.

Pharmacists play a critical role in supporting the healthcare system in the United States. They spend 6 or more years in college and typically know more about medications and potential interactions than most doctors. During the pandemic, the role and responsibilities of the pharmacist expanded. The challenge, however, is that their pay did not see a similar increase.

Whether in retail, insurance, or a hospital setting, you know how critical it is to find and keep highly skilled pharmacists. To secure the talent you need, your business should work through the problems currently plaguing the pharmacy industry. Ensuring you are offering competitive pay and an attractive total rewards package is a great place to start.

If you are trying to create a compelling compensation structure for your pharmacist and other pharmacy employees, you need data that directly compares the specific structure and size of your business. For example, you will want to look at businesses that are comparable in size and are in a similar geographic area. You can get that information from a pharmacy salary survey, including the surveys offered by Mercer.

Are we seeing an increase in pharmacist's pay?

The pharmacy industry is experiencing a lot of pressure, and there have been reports of pharmacist pay increases. The Drug Channels Institute reported that in 2022, retail pharmacists received an average pay jump of 3% over 2021 rates. Walgreens also made a push to attract more pharmacists by offering signing bonuses of up to $75,000.

However, in recent years, the rate of pay for pharmacists has not kept up with inflation. The New York Times reported that inflation-adjusted pay dropped by about 5% from 2021 to 2022.

If trends like these continue, pharmacists may leave their positions to find new work at pharmacies that are willing to give them more pay and flexibility. For example, they might leave a retail pharmacy and transition to a hospital. Other pharmacists may become so overworked and burnt out that they leave the field entirely.

How should pharmacy companies respond to the pay differentials and labor shortages?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average pharmacist salary, as of May 2022, was $132,750. While this information is important, it does not hold much weight for many businesses. This number does not offer any information about the specifics of the pharmacy industry. One of the best ways to understand what your employees want and expect from you is by using data-driven research and employee listening surveys.

Salary surveys for pharmacists

Instead of simply guessing how much to pay your pharmacists and other pharmacy employees, use real-world data to plan your compensation strategy. Mercer's US Pharmacy Compensation Survey will help you attract and keep the talent you need.

The Pharmacy Compensation Survey uses analytical data from 116 jobs across the United States. You can find benchmark data for a variety of pharmacy positions based on company size, industry specialization, and location. You can compare your salary strategy to that of others in the market using various components, including:

• Base pay
• Salary range
• Incentive eligibility
• Script volume by store
• Hours scheduled

Whether you operate a chain drug store or a pharmacy in a long-term care facility, or whether you are part of a hospital system, the compensation survey has valuable data relevant to your industry.

Employee listening

Developing an attractive total rewards package starts by understanding what your employees need — and you have to ask them. Employee listening tools give you a better idea of their expectations, including what they want for compensation and other benefits. Mercer offers a wide range of employee listening tools that can add data-driven resources to the process.

These tools include:

• Mercer Rewards Optimizer: With this survey, you can discover the right mix of rewards that are most valuable to your employees. It uses a series of trade-off questions to get a clear idea of the work and life concerns your employees face.
• Unmet needs analysis: Do your employees have any unmet needs? This survey will help you understand your employees’ top concerns at work and in life.
• Digital focus group: With a digital focus group, you can work directly with a group of employees to understand their perspectives on a specific topic. These online sessions are guided by a facilitator.
• Pulse survey: If you would like to gather information over a longer period, a Pulse survey is an excellent choice. The Pulse survey gives you the flexibility to choose your questions and decide the timeline for each survey, so you can analyze the changes over time.
• Engagement snapshot survey: The engagement snapshot survey provides a quick insight into how your employees feel about their work environment and other topics prevalent in the modern workplace.
• Engagement survey toolkit: This toolkit provides the resources you need to design, deliver, and analyze engagement surveys. The tools can help create action plans to address any issues that may be causing low performance and unwanted turnover.
• Engagement survey benchmarking report: This benchmarking report helps you understand how your employees compare to others. It features the most popular engagement survey questions to allow comparison.
• Engagement survey: Having engaged employees is crucial to the success of any business, especially those employees with direct customer interaction. With this customizable survey, you can discover how engaged your employees feel and the key factors driving those feelings.

Get the data you need to stay competitive with Mercer

Pharmacists have been put under increasing pressure since the start of the pandemic. It is not surprising that they want to see their pay and benefits increase to reflect their additional responsibilities. The Mercer Pharmacy Survey not only offers the national median salary for pharmacists across the country but also provides insights into specific specializations (nuclear/infusion/staff, etc.), industries (retail/healthcare/PBM, etc.), geographic regions, and more to help you build competitive compensation packages.

Looking for something else besides salary surveys? We offer an extensive lineup of data-backed products, including employee mobility tools, employee listening products, benefits analysis, turnover statistics, and policy studies.

Ready to get the data and insights you need to attract the best talent possible? Contact Mercer today at 866-605-1031.