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Pharmacy Technician Schools

NEW YORK -- Pharmacy labor costs continue to rise sharply, as pay levels for staff pharmacists easily outpace inflation, according to new research from Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The lingering shortage of qualified professionals and fierce competition for the scarce human resources coming out of the nation's roughly 90 schools of pharmacy is fueling the steady rise in average salaries--which now top $88,000 on a nationwide basis.

The median total cash compensation for staff pharmacists rose 5 percent over the past year to $88,400, according to Mercer's 2004 Pharmacy Compensation Survey-Spring Edition. Also showing strong growth rates were related positions like pharmacy team manager, clinical pharmacist and staff pharmacist for a mail order or online pharmacy firm.

"Several factors, such as a shortage of pharmacists, a growing elderly population and rising use of medications, have prompted many employers to increase pharmacy-related salaries more than usual noted Michael Burniston, a senior rewards consultant for Mercer. "In this fast-growing industry, employers want to retain quality employees."

Despite the general upward trend in pharmacist pay scales, the survey also found plenty of variation from region to region. Average annual salaries range from $75,100 in Pittsburgh to more than $100,000 in many California cities.

"Since these pay levels vary from market to market due in part to demand for pharmacist skills, reliable market data is essential for making ay decisions," Burniston said.

Overall, the survey showed that base pay for pharmacy professionals is rising steadily. "Pharmacy employers granted average base pay increases of up to 4 percent in 2003," Mercer noted in a report, with the health care industry paying up to $5,000 more than retail pharmacies for the position of pharmacy team manager and up to $8,000 more per year for pharmacy technicians. "However, the report continued, "the retail industry pays approximately $3,000 more annually for the staff pharmacist position."

Nevertheless, Mercer noted, "Few of the organizations surveyed provide any type of short-term or long-term incentive pay plan to pharmacy employees. When such incentives are provided, they typically are offered to pharmacy team managers and staff pharmacists and are based on performance criteria, such as pharmacy profits, pharmacy sales and individual performance."

To arrive at its findings, Mercer surveyed 199 U.S. retail and institutional pharmacy operators, which together employ more than 200,000 pharmacy staff members in 16 different jobs. For more information, visit www.imercer.com, or call (800) 333-3070.

Year-over-year pay comparison
of select pharmacy positions

                        2003 Median    2004 Median
                         total cash     total cash
JOB TITLE               compensation   compensation

Pharmacy team
  manager                 $89,400        $94,600
Staff harmacist            84,200         88,400
Clinical kharmacist        82,900         85,200
Staff pharmacist
  (mail order/online)      79,800         87,400
Pharmacy technician        19,500         20,500

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Geographic pay variations for pharmacists

Metropolitan    Median total cash
area              compensation

National             $88,400
Los Angeles           96,200
Dallas                91,500
Atlanta               89,300
New York              89,000
Las Vegas             88,900
Chicago               87,600
Buffalo, N.Y.         85,800
Washington            84,900
New Orleans           83,200
Omaha, Neb.           79,000

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting

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