Pharmacy Daily | Community pharmacy not first choice

PHARMACY graduates are no longer looking at community pharmacy as their first choice career path, Ravens Recruitment General Manager, Heidi Dariz, has revealed.

Releasing Raven's 2019 Pharmacy Market and Salary Report, Dariz noted that despite pay rates rising across the industry, employee pharmacists are looking for opportunities in non-traditional roles.

"Over the past 12 months we have seen the demand for pharmacists in all sectors increase, although pharmacist shortages are still most critical in our rural and remote communities within community and hospital pharmacy," she said.

"We have also seen an increasing gap between the skills employers want and the skills job seekers possess.

"Demand for pharmacists who are able to develop, provide and implement professional services programs has increased as community pharmacies' focus increasingly looks to provide a point of difference surrounding value and service in a market where customer spending is primarily driven by price point.

"We have had an increasing number of candidates interested in other career paths within pharmacy, including working in the pharmaceutical industry, within aged care and as pharmacists in GP clinics and we expect this trend to continue into the future."

Data released by Ravens found pharmacists who are willing to leave the major metropolitan areas can land the greatest financial rewards, with pharmacist managers in regional and rural parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, including Darwin, taking home salaries of up to $152,000 plus superannuation, while those in non-management roles reported incomes of up to $101,000.

Pharmacist managers in rural and regional parts of Western Australia and South Australia reported taking home between $103,000 and $140,000, with those in NSW and the ACT earning between $120,00 and $135,000.

Canberra pharmacies offer the highest salaries of all the major capitals, for pharmacists in charge ($102,000), managers ($110,000) and interns ($57,000), while Sydney offered the highest salary for pharmacists in non-management positions ($84,000).

However, pharmacists in Perth reported the lowest incomes across all categories.