Avantages
-1199 Union benefits - medical/dental/rx + pension after +5 years -Getting better as a company despite the poorly planned merger deal with Eckerd -New wellness store format really spruced up the appearance of some of the decrepit, homely stores -Occassionally working with people who care about the job (they do exist) and the people they serve. -The pay at chain pharmacies is still the highest right out of pharmacy school. I plan on finding a hospital job after paying off my loans.
Inconvénients
-Sometimes stressful working conditions esp in busy pharmacy. -Alot of the front end people don't like their jobs and are often times understaffed. -Lower pay if in union and pay raises are rare nowadays (none in past few years) -Understaffing (past few years they have been cutting tech hours. They have a formula based on rx counts to calculate necessary tech hours but I feel that formula is flawed and doesnt take all the work that has to be done into account) -Almost impossible to eat any decent lunch in a busy pharmacy -Repetitive work -Occasional cranky and sour customers but it's natural working in a retail setting. -As a floater you are sometimes to called on the very day you thought you had off. -They will fire you over the seemingly minor offenses (ex: leaving hippa trash in locked patient consultation room, checking work email on off hours) -Pharmacy manager is considered non-union and has crappy health insurance albeit higher pay and year-end bonuses.