Hehe, actually, I already have...I'm being paid 19% more than I was two months ago.AdmiralKird wrote:Well Easton, how much of a risk taker are you?
Give management an ultimatum. Either you get at least one new worker/raise, or you quit and the store goes under. You're the only one holding it up, use that as leverage.
Plus, I've always had the bonus of basically setting my own hours...that's a lot more "hand" than most techs have in a pharmacy, and it's a major reason why I'm staying at the store in spite of the commute/current problems. The pharmacy manager knows the situation, and she's working hard to try to bring people in. Others are kicking in too...I had one pharmacist put in 3 hours of overtime today because we were so slammed. He worked a 10:00am to 9:00 pm shift with no breaks and no food...he deserves a freaking medal.
The problem is that the nature of the job really hamstrings someone who's hiring. It's hard to find intelligent, mature, reliable, hard-working applicants with people skills who are capable of multi-tasking and willing to pull down a lot of irregular hours in a high-stress environment for barely more than minimum wage. The turnover for pharmacy techs is huge, and for good reason. It's a really hard job, and people who don't fit the criteria above tend to wash out really fast. The vast majority of the techs (NOT pharmacy students) you see in stores are HS kids or middle-aged married women. That's pretty much the talent pool you're fishing in as a pharmacy manager...good luck with that one on short notice.
Since the beginning of the year we've hired five people: Three middle-aged moms, a HS age girl, and a HS age guy. Two of the moms (the two hired for full-time work) were fired because they missed too much time (one to two days a week, every week) and for general gross incompetence. The HS guy was fired for suspected stealing and a few no-call-no-shows. The HS girl only works weekends, and the other mother pulls down 8 hours a week.
And those were the cream of the applicant crop so far. It's really an uphill climb. Right now we're actively trying to steal techs from other pharmacies. Sadly, that's probably our best shot at getting competent help in the near future.