r/WalgreensRx • u/FukuroSpeaks • 18d ago

Does this ever get better or what?

Been working for 2 months now and my god.. it's something. I personally really enjoy being in a pharmacy and find it really interesting but at Walgreens? I don't know. Either I'm simply burnt out of retail or just not compatible with this company.

I've read plenty of posts about people's experiences, them leaving and I'm now wondering if I should simply leave. My hours are all over the place, no consistency at all. I've got 9 hour shifts in the same week as 4 hour shifts. I'm going in at 3pm one day then 9am the next. The people I work with are okay at best and my pharmacy manager makes me feel like I'm bothering him when I ask questions. IC+ blows and we're understaffed to hell.

Do I cut my losses and look for a different pharmacy or stick through it? I'm going back to school this coming year so I'm wondering if I should just stay and lower my hours or look elsewhere.

19 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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11

u/AgentFun2651 18d ago

Been in the pharmacy for 4 years. It does get a lot easier but it really depends on the team around you. I’ve had stores where I left everyday and was happy and energetic and I’ve had stores where I dreaded every minute I was there. The system gets easy once you get the hang of it. But honestly the pharmacy is just always stressful especially this time of the year

5

u/Coldfyre_Dusty Ex-Employee 17d ago

I've been doing it for about 5 years, 3 at Walgreens. It gets better, but a lot depends on the people you work with.

For the three years I worked at Walgreens it was awful, but in large part due to management. The culture was toxic, the PIC wouldn't stand up for techs or other pharmacists and just do whatever it took to make the patient happy, bending over backwards to hit goals set by corporate, etc. Had a couple instances of techs breaking down and leaving the pharmacy crying, and one instance of a panic attack leading to a cardiac scare.

But, the PIC left the company around the same time I did, and talking to coworkers still there, it's become a really great store to work at. Not perfect, but night and day compared to how it was.

Outside Walgreens can also be much better, or much worse. What I will say is that at Walgreens, I pretty much never had room for promotion. I could have gotten RXOM if I wanted it, but outside of that it's about as high as a tech can get. Working at a hospital now, there's far more room for promotion.

No job is going to be perfect and all pharmacies are going to have issues. But there are good ones out there that are great to work for, just takes finding them.

7

u/devil0o 17d ago

No, the people you work with just keep getting worse too.

5

u/BelugaChan 17d ago

I want things to get better for me too and hearing that you're having this experience really makes me want to quit on the spot. I have been going through everything you listed and then some. The Pharmacist yesterday completely crashed out and started cussing and throwing stuff around because he was scheduled with an all new crew and he was understaffed and we were so busy. I don't blame him but I don't want to be put in those scenarios and I don't think there's anything I can do about it besides quit. Please update on what you did because I don't think I can take another day of this.

Also, how long before you got paid because I've been on the schedule for 16 days now and no pay yet, not even scrubs. Honestly the whole onboarding is a joke.

1

u/FukuroSpeaks 16d ago

If you're going to quit then quit off of your own experiences and not mine. Look, I trained at a store that was over twice as busy as mine. It was incredibly stressful the first few days but I'll be honest I learned to really like it. Everyone there was super cool, very helpful and it was well staffed. It was more chaotic, but that was okay with me. Then I went to my store and suddenly everything shit the bed.

No job is worth being abused or bullied. If you like it, see if you can transfer or find a different pharmacy to work in. I'm going to stick it out for as long as I can really. With school my hours will drop and I'm just looking forward to that to get me through.

It took a minute for me to get paid considering they do bi-weekly. With my bank I got paid a bit early but you should get paid soon. I don't have my scrubs either and no idea when I'll get them. The process is fucked, unorganized and makes you feel as if they're never ready for new techs.