A national staffing shortage of pharmacy technicians has left retail and clinical pharmacies to struggle keeping up with demand.
Sparrow Hospital Pharmacy Director Todd Belding said the shortage began before the COVID-19 pandemic but was exacerbated by the fear of being exposed to the virus in a healthcare setting.
“People wanted to stay away from places that were known to have a lot of interactions with COVID-19, and so retail pharmacies and hospital pharmacies were struggling for applicants during that time,” Belding said.
Similar levels of demand being maintained by a smaller staff leads to burnout faster in pharmacies, Belding said, and increases the possibility for error.
“(Staff) tend to try to hurry through the process and that always leads to a larger chance of having an error,” Belding said. “It slows down the process which does lead to frustration.”
As a national staff shortage took hold of restaurants and retailers, pharmacy technicians watched as companies raised starting wages from the minimum legal amount to upwards of $15 per hour – meanwhile, pharmacy technicians were getting paid a similar wage and having to undergo a higher amount of pressure in their workplace, Michigan Pharmacists’ Association CEO Mark Glasper said.
“It’s a very highly pressurized environment that they work in (with) a lot of stress involved, and the pay isn’t there to support that,” Glasper said.
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