Do People Just Not Want To Work Anymore?

[pulmonarymd]

There are 3 CVS's, 2 Walgreen's, 2 Stop and Shop's, 2 independent pharmacies, the hospital pharmacy, and now one grass root pharmacy in the small city I work in. I live in a suburb next door. We have 2 CVS pharmacies, small ruralish town on the other side has a CVS, Walgreen's, and the independent pharmacy. In a area where the population is growing slowly, although it is getting older. I do not know how they all stay in business. Pharmacy chains expanded by a ridiculous amount, and I think they believed there was infinite business for them, and they would never have a problem staffing them.

[Deleted]

I saw a couple hating on the pharmacy tech at my CVS when we went for our flu shot. I booked our appointments and completed all the paperwork online several days in advance. When we arrived, 15 minutes before our appointment time as required, there was a couple who had walked in and were seated, completing their paperwork. We were taken first because we had an appointment, and the couple was very abusive to the tech.

[TheOtherMe]

I've seen people giving CVS pharmacists a hard time.

One I got one of the earlier Covid vaccines, masks were required.  Some woman wanted the vaccine and refused to wear a mask.  They kept saying she couldn't get the vaccine without the mask and she kept saying she refused to wear a mask.

I got tired of listening so I left before my 15 minutes were up.

I have to use CVS mail order with my health insurance.  They are able to get prescriptions in the mail within a couple of days of ordering.

[cktc]

Nov 7, 2022 9:01:17 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

The guy who did my tiling said his son is attending college to become a game developer and computer graphics.  The tile guy said he doesn't think that was a wise decision.  

Here I'm all excited at my 6 year old's minecraft skills and eager to get him into Coding Ninjas because I figure no matter what he ends up doing, with programming and graphic design skills he will have something to fall back on for life. Is this just basic life skills for the younger generation? I'm a troglodyte and it's completely beyond my skill set.

[wvugurl26]

Seems to me it would be smart to be kind to the staff who are going to jab you with a needle but what do I know?

I admit to being super annoyed that Walgreens wouldn't give me Flucelvax but CVS did. I wasn't mean to anyone about it, I just left Walgreens because I wasn't going to resubmit my paperwork and lie about my allergies. I know Flucelvax is cell based not egg based and that Walgreens gave me Flucelvax in 2021.

A couple weeks later I went to CVS and got Flucelvax no issue.

I don't think I can even count the pharmacies in town and it's not that big. WalMart and Target both have pharmacies. The hospital has one. Then there's 2 Walgreens, 1 CVS, 1 Rite Aid, 3 grocery store ones and 3 independent pharmacies and this is just in the city's zip codes and those that my insurance covers. If you expand to the county there's more.

I do agree there's been a very aggressive expansion by the chains and they thought they'd have plenty of staffing.

[Deleted]

Nov 8, 2022 17:01:08 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I do agree there's been a very aggressive expansion by the chains and they thought they'd have plenty of staffing.

I just looked.  There are 7 CVS stores and 3 Walgreen's within a 5-mile radius of my home although one Walgreen's has temporarily closed its pharmacy.  That doesn't count Target, Wal-Mart, HyVee (a local grocery chain) and other stores with a pharmacy inside. I suppose they all figured that with the aging population and the increasing incidence of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high BP, etc. it would be a slam-dunk.

[Tiny]

How did pharmacies handle the prescription load in the past? I swear there's a CVS/Walgreen's ever 1/2 mile here. And then there are pharmacies in Jewel, Target, Costco, Walmart, and Sam's Club.

A friend has a variety of prescriptions as does her 85yo mom... and they have been complaining about the wait times at the pharmacies for years. I remember picking up prescriptions for them pre-pandemic where the drive thru was 6 cars deep and even inside the store there was a 40 minute wait... and I was picking up already filled prescriptions.

I'm assuming there are more people (like lots more people) now a days with prescription needs than there were 15 or 20 years ago.

[swamp]

Nov 8, 2022 14:57:56 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Nov 8, 2022 12:16:56 GMT -5 giramomma said:

DD1 wants to be a teacher.

I fully expect that she'll pivot out at some point. The teacher burn out rate isn't magically getting better in the next 5-10 years.

A lot of Math teachers end up in the actuarial field.

On the OT, I wonder what's going on at CVS.  A local FB page had a post from someone who stopped at one in town in the middle of a weekday and they were closed- not enough people.  Today I stopped at one in another town- well-traveled, upper-middle-class area.  Yes, they could refill my prescription buy they were behind 30 days.  Fortunately mine is an "as needed" and I had a small supply, but she didn't even ask any questions to determine whether it was something I needed immediately like painkillers or antibiotics.  (I went to the one in my town and they were able to refill it.)

That has to be a tough job- always people waiting, no WFH and working with a lot of people who are struggling to find the money for their prescriptions.  They're always checking GoodRx.

DH started as a retail pharmacist. He hated it. It was basically arguing with insurance companies and getting yelled at by drug addicts and little old ladies who were big mad their pills were do expensive. He also got yelled at by doctors if he flagged a script for possible reaction.

He switched to hospital pharmacy and REFUSES to go back to retail.

[swamp]

Nov 8, 2022 14:14:29 GMT -5 lurkyloo said:

I bet the statistics on who is still working in the field you majored in depends heavily on the major.  DH and I are both still in the same fields, as are a lot of the STEM types we went to school with. ( Although I feel like a fair number of us veered over into law.  Does it still count if it’s STEM-centric law? )

If you majored in psychology and are working in marketing, frankly I would consider that the same field 

If you majored in say French medieval literature I’m sure you picked up many skills and are employed or at least employable, but jobs within that specific field seem to me to be somewhat limited.  cough swamp cough

😀

[pulmonarymd]

There are a lot more drugs than years ago. We can treat more conditions than we did before. Add that to an aging, sick population, and the #prescriptions/person has increased compared to the past. Add in expanded hours, 24 hour pharmacies are a recent thing, private pharmacies usually have “bankers hours” and you need more pharmacists. Pen a pharmacy every 2 miles, and that just exacerbated the problem

[nidena]

Nov 8, 2022 18:49:02 GMT -5 Tiny said:

How did pharmacies handle the prescription load in the past? I swear there's a CVS/Walgreen's ever 1/2 mile here. And then there are pharmacies in Jewel, Target, Costco, Walmart, and Sam's Club.

A friend has a variety of prescriptions as does her 85yo mom... and they have been complaining about the wait times at the pharmacies for years. I remember picking up prescriptions for them pre-pandemic where the drive thru was 6 cars deep and even inside the store there was a 40 minute wait... and I was picking up already filled prescriptions.

I'm assuming there are more people (like lots more people) now a days with prescription needs than there were 15 or 20 years ago.

We're easily 100M more people since 1980 so there's definitely more prescription needs.  Add in the fact that the those who were 20 back then are now 60+, and even with a stagnant population, there are more needs PER PERSON.

There's also more things identified that can be treated with meds: ADHD, OCD, Hashimoto's, Fibromyalgia, and the list goes on.

Going back to the number of CVS stores, there are 20 distribution centers in the U.S. and one is located here in Indy so we have a TON of stores to go along with it.  

I use Express Scripts.  It's just easier to order via the internet than to try to guess when a store might be open.

[TheOtherMe]

Mom had to get her prescriptions at Walmart.  I remember waiting forever to pick them up--even refills.

On one of my last visits, she was going home from the hospital and scripts had been called there to be filled ASAP.  

Two had been called in and I had been told to pick up two prescriptions.  They only had one ready and said they had no more.  Called BIL and he called someone and called me back that the 2nd prescription would be ready.

By the time I got back to the car, it was ready and I got all kinds of apologies.

[stillmovingforward]

Nov 7, 2022 9:01:17 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

The guy who did my tiling said his son is attending college to become a game developer and computer graphics.  The tile guy said he doesn't think that was a wise decision.  

My DS1 is a video game developer. He has an actual computer science degree. Loves his job, admits its hard, and makes bank! Also works from home in his jammies.

[daisylu]

I wrote off CVS YEARS ago. I think it was around 2014. DS has taken Vyvanse for his ADHD since 2012. It was always sent electronically from the doctor's office. I remember it was January, because it was his first script of the new year. Our insurance pays nothing on scripts until we meet the deductible, and in that 1 month the cost jumped from $280 to $360 for a 1 month supply. There was a woman working in the pharmacy, not sure what her title was, but I had issues with her being nasty in the past. When she rang it up, I questioned why the price had jumped $80 in a month time. I was polite, was just looking for a reason and making sure that it was correct. She got very nasty with me in front of a lot of people. I did not verbally retaliate, which is a miracle, but I took my money elsewhere and never looked back. I did take a survey on the receipt and let them know what I thought about her behavior and noted that it was not the first time, but it would be the last.

[raeoflyte]

Nov 8, 2022 21:50:25 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Nov 7, 2022 9:01:17 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

The guy who did my tiling said his son is attending college to become a game developer and computer graphics.  The tile guy said he doesn't think that was a wise decision.  

My DS1 is a video game developer. He has an actual computer science degree. Loves his job, admits its hard, and makes bank! Also works from home in his jammies.

I love that! Right now ds wants to be a surgeon (who know how or if that will change as he gets older) but he's been designing graphics for a game he is creating. It looks hard!

[Deleted]

Nov 9, 2022 8:57:42 GMT -5 daisylu said:

When she rang it up, I questioned why the price had jumped $80 in a month time. I was polite, was just looking for a reason and making sure that it was correct. She got very nasty with me in front of a lot of people. I did not verbally retaliate, which is a miracle, but I took my money elsewhere and never looked back. I did take a survey on the receipt and let them know what I thought about her behavior and noted that it was not the first time, but it would be the last.

I totally agree that her nastiness was inappropriate but how would she know what was behind the increase?  Your insurance plan provisions could have changed, the manufacturer could have jacked up the price and/or CVS may have increased its markup.

[daisylu]

Nov 9, 2022 12:31:26 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Nov 9, 2022 8:57:42 GMT -5 daisylu said:

When she rang it up, I questioned why the price had jumped $80 in a month time. I was polite, was just looking for a reason and making sure that it was correct. She got very nasty with me in front of a lot of people. I did not verbally retaliate, which is a miracle, but I took my money elsewhere and never looked back. I did take a survey on the receipt and let them know what I thought about her behavior and noted that it was not the first time, but it would be the last.

I totally agree that her nastiness was inappropriate but how would she know what was behind the increase?  Your insurance plan provisions could have changed, the manufacturer could have jacked up the price and/or CVS may have increased its markup.

She may not have immediately known, but she could have offered to investigate or point me to someone who could. When people at work ask me a question, it is my responsibility to answer it or get back to them with the requested info.

[raeoflyte]

Nov 9, 2022 12:55:48 GMT -5 daisylu said:

Nov 9, 2022 12:31:26 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I totally agree that her nastiness was inappropriate but how would she know what was behind the increase?  Your insurance plan provisions could have changed, the manufacturer could have jacked up the price and/or CVS may have increased its markup.

She may not have immediately known, but she could have offered to investigate or point me to someone who could. When people at work ask me a question, it is my responsibility to answer it or get back to them with the requested info.

And sometimes the cost difference leads you to other issues to address. Super cheap - they filled 30 instead of 90, wrong or different item.

I post it way too often, but ds has type1 diabetes. We deal with insurance and pharmacies a lot. There are a few good encounters that I can't imagine ever forgetting. The 3rd pharmacist during those first 24 hours who stopped and looked at me and just acknowledged that it was a really bad day for me. The online pharmacy (cvs scarily enough) who has so far seamlessly transferred all pur stuff post job change.

And then there was the online reps who repeatedly told me supplies were coming, and then when they actually weren't were absolutely unhelpful or empathetic. I'm not proud of how I reacted, but apparently it was the only way to get them to overnight items ds needs to live.

[jerseygirl]

swamp hoping your mom’s passing is peaceful and quick

[Deleted]

Another interesting data point on drug store chains although it's a bit OT:  drug stores are facing increasing losses from shoplifting, most likely by people planning to re-sell on Amazon.  I noticed on my last visit to CVS that the entire baby formula shelf was filled with "take this card to the register" cards instead of actual merchandise.  More items such as small electronics are behind plexiglass, so you have to get an employee to unlock the case wand watch you.  The article notes that locking items up can result in a decrease of 5-25% in sales of the item.  The CVS stores near me push self check-out but you still need an employee to provide access to the stuff you want!

slate.com/business/2022/11/cvs-walgreens-shoplifting-plexiglass-barriers-pharmacies.html

[nidena]

I shared this on the WIRR but thought if fit here, too:

Last Thursday, I got a call from the clothing store that I worked at when I first moved here, asking if I'd like to come back. I went in on Friday and met with the manager. Apparently, they have only four employees at the present time. Towards the end of the interview, the manager asked what wage I was looking for. I replied with $18/hr. They said "The company will never pay that. What more reasonable wage would work for you?" paraphrasing because I don't remember the exact wording. I responded with $15. They said they'd have to make a "business case" to get it approved. I then asked "What wage are YOU authorized to offer?" $12 was the answer. Mind you, I was making $11 pre-pandemic so they really haven't gotten the memo about wages. They also got rid of their commission program so, really, they reduced what they pay their sales associates even further because some of those bonuses were pretty nice. If the manager doesn't come back with $15, it's not worth the commute for me to take the job, especially considering the highway construction that is going on near me that has made it so that I have to take surface streets to/from that mall.

ETA: I didn't expect them to pay $18.  I wanted to see the response.

[nidena]

The latest update:

Latest layoffs: Companies making cuts

[TheOtherMe]

Around here companies keep announcing changes and they will be bringing xxx jobs to Dubuque.  Then they complain they can't find anyone to take the jobs.  So why keep building and expanding when people don't want jobs here.

Lots of college kids in Iowa have no plans to live in this state once they graduate.  The people who do these things need to consider all the crappy anti-education and anti-labor laws that have been passed in the last 6 years and ask themselves if they would move here.

I know I would not.

[nidena]

Job Market’s 2.6 Million Missing People Unnerves Star Harvard Economist

The data highlight to Chetty and his team just how much those awful months in 2020 still haunt the US economy. Even as their tracker shows metrics like job listings, consumer spending and small business revenue surging back above January 2020 levels, the US is missing about a fifth of its pre-pandemic low-income workforce. At least some of those workers moved to higher-paying jobs, but, after adjusting for wage growth, researchers found employment for the poorest quarter of the workforce was still 13.5% below pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2021.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jan 18, 2023 15:11:40 GMT -5 nidena said:

Job Market’s 2.6 Million Missing People Unnerves Star Harvard Economist

The data highlight to Chetty and his team just how much those awful months in 2020 still haunt the US economy. Even as their tracker shows metrics like job listings, consumer spending and small business revenue surging back above January 2020 levels, the US is missing about a fifth of its pre-pandemic low-income workforce. At least some of those workers moved to higher-paying jobs, but, after adjusting for wage growth, researchers found employment for the poorest quarter of the workforce was still 13.5% below pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2021.

Wasn’t the end of 2021 part of the extended and enhanced unemployment benefits?  TD got laid off then, and received unemployment until we left the country in Nov 2021.  

[nidena]

Jan 18, 2023 20:05:35 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Jan 18, 2023 15:11:40 GMT -5 nidena said:

Job Market’s 2.6 Million Missing People Unnerves Star Harvard Economist

The data highlight to Chetty and his team just how much those awful months in 2020 still haunt the US economy. Even as their tracker shows metrics like job listings, consumer spending and small business revenue surging back above January 2020 levels, the US is missing about a fifth of its pre-pandemic low-income workforce. At least some of those workers moved to higher-paying jobs, but, after adjusting for wage growth, researchers found employment for the poorest quarter of the workforce was still 13.5% below pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2021.

Wasn’t the end of 2021 part of the extended and enhanced unemployment benefits?  TD got laid off then, and received unemployment until we left the country in Nov 2021.  

Sort of.  They ended in Sept 2021.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Jan 18, 2023 20:35:18 GMT -5 nidena said:

Jan 18, 2023 20:05:35 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Wasn’t the end of 2021 part of the extended and enhanced unemployment benefits?  TD got laid off then, and received unemployment until we left the country in Nov 2021.  

Sort of.  They ended in Sept 2021.

There was a lot of stimulus money going out in 2021.  I'm sure there were quite a few lower income folks with kids that chose to remain unemployed that entire year, especially if the schools were remote.  It wasn't until this past summer that my company was able to find enough people to work and that took a big starting pay hike and bringing in migrant workers.  2021 was awful.  The office people had to go out and work production in addition to their regular jobs to make the shipments.

[giramomma]

Jan 18, 2023 22:47:34 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Jan 18, 2023 20:35:18 GMT -5 nidena said:

Sort of.  They ended in Sept 2021.

There was a lot of stimulus money going out in 2021.  I'm sure there were quite a few lower income folks with kids that chose to remain unemployed that entire year, especially if the schools were remote.  It wasn't until this past summer that my company was able to find enough people to work and that took a big starting pay hike and bringing in migrant workers.  2021 was awful.  The office people had to go out and work production in addition to their regular jobs to make the shipments.

Our public schools shut down in March of 20 and pivoted to online. The doors opened up to in-person learning at the very end of April of 21. And, at that kids could only go to school in person two days a week for 6 weeks.

If we just had our older two kids, we could have left them alone to do school, and we could have gone about our lives. The peanut was in 2nd/3rd grade. No way she could be left at home alone at age 8 for 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2023 11:22:08 GMT -5 giramomma said:

If we just had our older two kids, we could have left them alone to do school, and we could have gone about our lives. The peanut was in 2nd/3rd grade. No way she could be left at home alone at age 8 for 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

Your older ones must be better-disciplined than DS at that age. Left alone in his middle-school years he would have played video games all day. One single mother in a podcast I listened to quit a very good job because her teenagers, who had ben excellent students before the pandemic, were doing very poorly in their schoolwork unsupervised.  I would have sat them down and told them they better start studying if they wanted a roof over their head and food in the refrigerator.

The percentage of students in the US who are home-schooled has doubled since the pandemic. Even if there was a parent in the household who could do their job from home, I can't imagine doing that and supervising schoolwork as well. And the parents who couldn't work from home pretty much had to quit.

I don't know how I would have handled it if I were in charge of a school system back then. I'm glad it wasn't my job.

[giramomma]

Well, here's something new. Bare Minimum Mondays.

And also, I really would love it if my life could be simplified into things like "Bare Minimum Mondays" or "Scary Sundays" or I could take part in the "Great Resignation."

And there's also Act your Wage.

I'm like, shit. I need a full paragraph to say "I need coffee." And, usually, I'm yelling it over the kids so that DH can hear.

(I suppose, this should have gone on the Whatcha doing thread.)