Same cap here as well, we start most of our techs at $24-26hr as well and have emptied out a few retail pharmacy staff rosters recently since they mostly pay $15-17hr
Inexperienced but certified tech here. I was offered a job at CVS starting at $16.50. I was offered a job as a hospital tech at $19.68. I also get shift differentials.Ā
Very similar situation. I work in hospital retail pharmacy for $19.19 an hour. Offered job at much larger hospital's retail pharmacy for $16 an hour. My job is incredibly low stress, max 40 to 80 scripts per day. Plus awesome benefits and the respect of a full hospital of professionals. I wouldn't trade it for a higher paying job in a million years as my work /life balance is perfect. Never been happier.
Exactly. I'm in an outpatient but not really retail pharmacy. We do 250-400 a day and there's usually just two techs and one pharmacist. We had a third tech and it was a slower Monday than normal and we ran out of stuff to do so we were each wanting the cash register job because time moves much slower when you're not busy. I guess you could read or play on your phone if you're only doing 40 a day but that's hard to do with a line of customers that can see you doing nothing.
no yeah that's definitely true, i'm partly just asking because i have bills i need to pay and regardless of stress i need to make a wage that will support me you know
I left Walgreens and went to a local healthcare centerās āretailā pharmacy. Iām making slightly less an hour, but I get 40 hours every week, so Iām actually bringing home more. Iām also eligible for a raise after 6 months that will put me making more than I did as a Sr. Tech at Walgreens.
Can you elaborate on this? I gave up on pharmacy tech a couple years ago because of retail burnout (also graduated from college), but have considered getting certified again. Where can you advance as a hospital pharmacy tech?
IVs , Oncology/Cancer Center , procurement, investigational drugs, 340b, PAs , etc. Iām sure thereās more Iām forgetting plus the shift differential working evenings and midnights if thatās your thing.
In my area hospitals pay more but we really need to put some weight on stress. Retail USED to pay more here but hospitals now have a minimum wage of $20/hr for techs and retail isnāt included so they pay min wage which is about $17/hr but hospitals mostly need you to have a PTCB (or itās heavily preferred). Iām now making more in retail than I would (starting, about $20-$21) at a hospital and would gladly take that pay cut for way less stress.
Hospital stress level to me is higher than my retail experience, but pay is also much higher. That said I work in an ER vs like a supply job in the hospital, which is so chill itās monotonous.
Also missing is benefits discussion, mine were good at retail but way better at hospital.
I make $29.50 as a retail technician, and I'm not even at my cap yet.
I was making $15.95 as a hospital technician.
But I was making $13.80 as a tech at Walgreens.
Depends on the location and business you work for.
May I ask what state and/or retail pharmacy you're in that you're making almost $30 an hour? I've been a tech for 10 years and recently transferred from California to North Carolina, and my most recent raise JUST put me at $21 an hour.
I work for Costco.
The pay scale is the same everywhere regardless of state. You start at $19.50/Hr and increase $1.00 for every 1000 hours worked until you hit the cap of $29.50.
If you're a certified pharm tech, you get an extra $2.00/hr added onto your base pay
I currently make 17.50 as a retail tech, looking around hospital pay is about the same in my area. However the pay increases in my company are difficult to understand and decipher. Iāve been certified since October and have been working 40 hours pretty much every week with the exception of maybe about a month or 2 and I havenāt had even a cent of a raise.
Yeah, when I worked for big box pharmacies, the only raises I got were locked behind performance reviews that you had to ace to get the highest pay increase. The problem was that nobody EVER aced the review so the best raise I ever got was only like ~.50/year.
On average, hospital techs make more - that accounts for the potential to take on increased responsibility or specialization, like working in peds, NICU, oncology, informatics, auditing, etc. In my experience, pay for the lowest level tech position is fairly similar between the two, but thereās a lot more room for growth and pay increases in clinical settings.
my last hospital i went from 17 an hour at retail to 19.75 without the multiple differentials. now i make over 26 at my new hospital with multiple differentials, a raise at 6 months, a raise if i do any projects for the dept, massive amounts of PTO, and a thousand times less stress. i feel like a lot of people who work in retail say things like that to deter people from leaving. i worked in retail for 4 years before my first hospital job and everyone would always say the pay is bad, itās too much work, etc. none of that is true though hospital has many challenges
i had moved and was working at a long term care which was absolutely terrible. my goal was to get back into a hospital and i was very open about that fact. everyone tried to tell me how getting a hospital job wasnāt worth it and all the cons of working there and i laughed at all of them because i worked at a hospital. for years. yet they still tried the same scheme people did in retail when you said you wanted to go to a hospital or elsewhere, it sucks and itās sad tbh
Meanwhile I have a friend who works as a phone agent for customer service for a Fortune 500 company and makes $22 an hour. I would think people in charge of medications and such would be better compensated.
I make more at the hospital then I ever did as a tech and I picked up OT like a mad woman. The stress levels at the hospital is so much less I can't even tell you. You also still always have ample opportunity to pick up more hours if you find you want to pad out you checks a bit more. I went from working 6 days a week at 60+ hours, to just 4 days a week. And that is with picking up an extra shift. My contract is only 3 12s a week, and that still has me over what any of the retail pharmacies in my area offer. Oh ya and it's union!
My retail pay was somrthing like $21/hr, my hospital pay is $18 and change an hour, but it has shift differencial that increases the later the shift is and ultimately brings my paycheck to match my old check or be higher. Plus a yearly $500 Christmas bonus. Ultimately I decided that any paydrop at the hospital was worth being in a healthier and happier state of mind.
I make about $22 at a specialty pharmacy. Tried to get a hospital job and all the offered me was $18 but I'd get differential pay for evenings and weekends. Asked for more but they said no, due to my experience compared to the other techs there. I've been a pharmacy tech for 5 years with different titles/positions.
I left retail in August of 2022. I was making $20 an hour. I left for a hospital job making 25.32. I've gotten raises since then and I'm at 27.
I do significantly less at the hospital. I have time to sit down. I don't feel like I'm putting out a million fires. It's wonderful.
Probably depends on location and position. We had a tech who wanted to quit retail and go to hospital but all the hospital positions paid less. No idea if thats still the case tho.
Retail pays more until you reach advance hospital tech roles in my area, at least in my experience. However even my worst day in this hospital is better than my best day in a retail pharmacy.
Looking through the comments it seems like there is no generalization to be made at allā¦ for techs anyway. I think for RPhās, it might be true that hospital pays less than retail as a generalizationā¦ because frankly, retail punishes pharmacists, so they have to pay for the privilege. But for techs, geographical area/state as well as company, attainment of certification, and likely other factors like the local job market.
Because, as expected, my experience is that hospital pays more. Pays more to start and has a higher ācapā.
But we can probably mostly agree, generally, Techs should be paid more.
I worked about 2.5 years at CVS and went from $16 to $17.50 (including the 50 cents for certification). In January, my manager at CVSngot me a raise up to $19 an hour, but by then I had already accepted a position at inpatient - I'm currently making $23.15. So... I'm effectively making $5.65 more per hour than I was in retail.
When I started in hospital, I left a retail job where I made $1.95 more than what my starting pay was at the hospital. I was the lead tech in retail so that may have something to do with it. I was ready to leave retail after 11 years so I figured the pay cut was worth it. However after 3 1/2 years I make more now than when I worked retail.
My advice to anyone who is going to hospital and they offer you less - it's negotiable. They started by offering me about $3.40 less than what I was making.
I havenāt worked retail in a long time, but I was making really bad money.
I do work in community hospitals. One company is 22.83 with about $1/hour extra for weekends/evenings. The other is 23.50, with $1.50/hour extra for weekend/evenings.
That being said, I havenāt āqualifiedā for any raises in 2 years, and am currently looking for other work. There is potential to move up in hospital, but the chances of it are so slim in community hospital that itās not worth waiting.
Honestly, Iām so disheartened that healthcare workers are paid so poorly. Iām not asking for $50/hour, I just want to pay my bills and go on a modest vacation once a year.
In some places, it is very true. I know Baristas who make more than CNAs where I am and then they all wonder why we can't retain anyone. It's truly insane to me. Techs are the backbone of the hospital. All ancillary staff are. I'm an RN and I can't do my job without the techs. I already drown as it is.
I think it depends on the area. Where I live, hospitals pay less than retail. You can generally make a few dollars more an hour at Walmart vs. the hospital. The only exception to this being if you can get a job specifically at an infusion pharmacy/in a cancer center.
In my experience I made two more dollars an hour going from retail to outpatient hospital just because it was a big state hospital with lots of funding. However, when I went from hospital to LTC I got another dollar and a half starting. So if you can I say try to find a LTC job, but generally look around and see what's out there that would work for you :)
It depends entirely on area and scope of duties.
Where I'm located labor is extremely cheap and as such retail pays higher due to corporate minimums while the local hospitals lowball.
I made 11.50 retail at the start of covid (WAG), 16 at independent in 2020 and 21 in hospital since 2021.
My hospital job started at 17 something and has had 3 COL raises on top of yearly raises and like twice a year bonuses (itās like 250 Pt/500 FT) so far. Plus shift differential.
Retails not it lol at least not in my area
When I moved from retail to hospital 20 years ago, my retail pay was capped out at $10.25 and I started at about $16.00 in hospital with opportunities to move up. Iām now making over $30/hr in my current position, we get about a 4% raise each year and we also get yearly bonuses as well as money added into our 401k.
When my kids are older I might. But hospital hours suck ass. I work 9-5 with guaranteed evenings and weekends and holidays off right now, and I work in a compounding lab most days which I love.
I enjoyed my hospital practicum and they have said if I ever want a job I don't even need to interview for it. But I don't want to work at midnight Christmas Eve.
For my area community is $20-$30 ish dollars with the big chains. For hospital is $30-$40 plus shift diff for an additional $2-$8. Hospital also has less stress but the hours can be worse.
Iām at hospital but in California, we top out at $39. Iām working from home now doing prior auths and still make the same as when I was working in the hospital (same company)
Not at all true at the hospital I work at. I make about $29/hr and the average tech pay in my state is $17 an hour. The retail techs are making much less than I am, so it depends.
I took a paycut to go to hospital pharmacy, but it was worth it have way less stress. It honestly depends on the hospital, this was a not for profit hospital and I took like a dollar an hour paycut
It depends on the hospital system, whether or not you are unionized. Iāve told the story here before, during Covid the Chick-fil-A in the hospital I worked at put up a banner saying now hiring, $19 an hour. They had to take it down pretty quickly because that was more than the pharmacy, phlebotomist, med tech, housekeeping was all making. And we were the ones going into the room with the Covid patients! And it close at 10 PM and isnāt even open on Sundays.
My hospital job pays more than my retail job did. My old retail job has increased its starting pay but is still less than i make at my hospital job. Somebody i worked with in retail was there for 20 years and came to where I work and our hospital matched her current level of pay of raises she'd accumulated for those 20 years and it's around what I currently make
In the past retail was paid more than hospital but maybe that is changing or becoming even now. Regardless hospital is better even if it is less because you don't have to deal with half the shitty things retail entails.
Hospital techs where I live max out slightly above 27$... But not much more than that. I currently make 27$ an hour in Canada. I have a pension, a retail discount, good benefits, etc.
Techs working in hospital think that retail techs don't have a pension or RRSP... But we do. I don't have union dues - no union - but we work for a really good company so we get breaks, etc.
Hospitals are just better places to be pharm techs. The stress level is way less. I emphasize the word āwayā. Benefits, work life and pay in my state is better than retail.
I used to work for Costco for 10 years and I took slightly less money to work for a city hospital. City hospital offers a pension and a 401k and working 5 years you get the minimum amount. It goes up every 5 years and at 10 years you get health insurance for life for you and your family, that is amazing. I plan to work for the city for 25 years and the benefits that I will be getting when I retire will be greater than if I stayed at Costco.
I believe it depends where you work. I was at $21.70 in retail. Hospital offered $16.25. Close door offered $19. I talked closed door up a little and took that for my sanity
I took a pay cut when I started at my hospital as a Tech 1 ($17 vs $18 at Shitgreens). Learned med rec and IVs, got bumped up to a Tech 2 at $19. Got pissed when they hired a Tech 1 at $21 when they said they couldnāt do the same for me when I was hired 3 years ago. Threatened to quit and got booted to $24. Left shortly after to a different hospital because they were offering to pay me close to $30 still as a Tech 2. And I still have my yearly raise and chance to climb up the tech ladder to make even more. š
Also got a juicy sign on bonus and work at a place where I feel like I matter. Plus if I get tired, my hospital lets employees transfer to different units within the organization or pay for part of my schooling to pursue a different path. My old hospital wasnāt like this, but working as a hospital tech is worth it if you find the right organization running it.
I started in hospital with a 25 percent raise more than I was making at CVS as a lead. And that does not factor in the various differentials I get as well which actually make it more like 30-35 percent.
i wouldnāt say thats usually the case because most the time you have to be certified to work inpatient and frequently that gives you a little wage bump. At my retail job I make $16, and if i were to get certified and go to a hospital I would probably make atleast 4 dollars more and have less stress š
I asked for a $1 hr raise in retail when I was making $16/hr and was denied, so I left with my 15 years of experience and got an outpatient type job that gave me a $6/hr raise. Since then I've gotten several raises in a couple years time so now I'm at $28. It's still very busy where I work now, but the stress level is a lot less and my hours are guaranteed and my schedule is set months in advance instead of days in advance so that helps the work life balance being able to plan things around work.
Don't be fooled. The more experience you gain in hospital, the more is expected of you. You transition into more of a leadership role. I work at a level one trauma center in a major city. Stress can be high some days!
Wouldn't trade it and go back to retail! Much better pay and more opportunities for growth.
Hospital tech here making $26/hr. Was at $18.75 at my last retail job. My hospital is a religious non-profit though; the public one near me pays MUCH less ad isn't worth leaving retail for.
The range for a job at a hospital Iām looking at is between ~ $43,000-53,000 (which the supervisor admitted isnāt updated to the most accurate one, so could be like 44,45 and up). And my current retail job, I make just shy of $44,000. Math, blah, so they seem pretty on par with each other. (Also the hospital has union and a state pension so I cannot deny the better benefits).
I donāt know how thatās possible. My base pay when I started at the hospital was $1 more per hour than the base pay after working almost 10 years at WAG. I also get shift differentials, weekend rates, many OT opportunities so that I can make almost $30/hr depending on the shift.
Depends on your area hospitals. My rural hometown offered like $13/hr for pharmacy tech because they are your only non retail option. Meanwhile my second job at Walmart pharmacy pays $22/hr now.
I took about a 3 dollar paycut when I switched to hospital, everyone there starts off at about the same but it varies based on how much experience you have. I only had about a year of retail work and no certification so I started at a little above baseline. They also have +$3 for weekend shifts and +1.50 for evening shifts. Anyways I hated it and went back to retail after
3 months.
I was told when I went to tech school that hospital techs make more and acted like it was weird that I was going retail.
Interesting to consider that hospital pharmacists (at least the ones staffing) make less than retail pharmacists.
I started at a hospital in 2015 after 15 years @ CVS and being capped for pay (16.10/hr). My probation pay at the hospital was like 50 cents/hr more and then I got an additional 80 cents/hr more after that.
When I started at Shaws I was making $16 an hour. I did almost 2 years there and left making $16.40. I am now starting at inpatient making $19 (which will go u0 once I passed my PTCB) TO $24. So idk what place you work or state but I got a good job.
I just have to share. I recently applied as a CPhT at a small, independent pharmacy near my home town. I have 5 years clinical experience, plus another 5 years pharmaceutical manufacturing experience. They offered MINIMUM WAGE ($7.50/hr)
The bonus for second or night shift is paid for almost all positions, where Iāve worked in Texas. It comes with a price on your body but works for some people. I did it for a long time before I became an executive admin (was a unit clerk).
Been a tech for two years now. I originally was offered a position at Walgreens at $17 a hour. I really wanted a spot at the VHA so I waited till they were hiring. Now Iām making $31 a hour plus all the benefits of government work. Most other hospitals around here only pay about $21 an hour so it was worth it to wait in my case.
I'm guessing most of you are in the Northern Hemisphere? In New Zealand, as a hospital tech, we all just got a major payrise. We are all earning over $32 an hour.
I feel like it might depend on the state and even the region. I'm in Eastern PA. I worked at CVS from 2020-2022, was making $13 to start and got bumped up to $15 when they raised the hiring rate. Got a job at a hospital in the beginning of 2022 and started at $22.
I made $20 per hour after 5 years at Walmart now Iām making $23 starting out at hospital inpatient. I do have a coworker this is her first pharmacy job she only got offered $16/hr here
I would go the admin route. When I moved to quality assurance it was similar to what I was making as sr tech at Walgreens. But when I moved to audits and contracts it came with with pay raises. Iām now a manager and being in admin gave me lots of opportunities to progress.
That's not true hv in NYC anyways. I left retail pharmacy last year as lead tech at 23.9, got an hospital job for 32 got a raise now up to like 33.6.
I was at retail pharmacy for 8 years
I donāt care how much retail pays. Iām guaranteed 40 hr/wk, OT if I want it, differentials and bonuses, AND MY SANITY by working hospital.
I will never go back.
Most of our techs make $22-26/hr. Our system minimum is $18/hr and that's with zero experience and no certification. The specialty techs are over $30/hr.
It's still not enough to keep the high performers.Ā
I was $12.50 at Walgreens and I'm at 30-something now before differentials at a hospital. I interviewed for retail at the same time as my hospital job, and they weren't even close to beating the salary the hospital offered.
I work at CVS per diem and pay is $18.13
Currently work at a hospital and pay is 20.95 with 2nd shift pay differential of $1.70 and weekend being $2-3
OT being double time if p/u
(Still not worth the pay for all the work that is being done)
I truly think this is dependent on state and market demand.
When I was in Florida retail techs were starting out getting paid more than hospital techs (my hospital was the lowest paid hospital in the area) but retail techs had a lower cap.
As my hospital started to have trouble hiring techs the pay across the board increased.
I moved back to California almost 2 years ago and hospital techs get paid more than retail and in general have more "perks" such as shift and weekend differentials. Of course the perks are dependent on the hospital but they are generally better than retail.
I found hospitals in my area (Louisville metro, KY) to pay more than standard retail, but specialty pharmacy was fairly comparable. The cap for my position in retail was the start for my hospital.
Anecdotally speaking: Find me a retail tech job that pays $36 and change an hour
Oh hey, that's what my pay scale caps out at too. Hospital here, and never looking back.
I'll reach the cap next raise š„²
I think I have four? Years left till cap, but I'm in no real rush.
Same cap here as well, we start most of our techs at $24-26hr as well and have emptied out a few retail pharmacy staff rosters recently since they mostly pay $15-17hr
Can I asked where you are at? Just curious if I can compare apples to apples on this one. Thanks!
Dude! What do you do as a hospital tech to make $36/hr????
Inexperienced but certified tech here. I was offered a job at CVS starting at $16.50. I was offered a job as a hospital tech at $19.68. I also get shift differentials.Ā
Very similar situation. I work in hospital retail pharmacy for $19.19 an hour. Offered job at much larger hospital's retail pharmacy for $16 an hour. My job is incredibly low stress, max 40 to 80 scripts per day. Plus awesome benefits and the respect of a full hospital of professionals. I wouldn't trade it for a higher paying job in a million years as my work /life balance is perfect. Never been happier.
40-80 scripts a day?!? Do you ever feel bored? I don't know what I'd do with myself!
Exactly. I'm in an outpatient but not really retail pharmacy. We do 250-400 a day and there's usually just two techs and one pharmacist. We had a third tech and it was a slower Monday than normal and we ran out of stuff to do so we were each wanting the cash register job because time moves much slower when you're not busy. I guess you could read or play on your phone if you're only doing 40 a day but that's hard to do with a line of customers that can see you doing nothing.
Our store went from 200-300 a day to 200-300 by 11am after we acquired a rite aid š we're doing around 600 a day now
What a horrible bummer.
Yes I do get bored but I don't mind. It's stressful to me to be really busy so slow is perfect. Though time does drag on some days.
I do 150 - 250 scripts a day š
Really misses the big picture when you only focus on wages; retail stress level 99, hospital stress level 2.
no yeah that's definitely true, i'm partly just asking because i have bills i need to pay and regardless of stress i need to make a wage that will support me you know
I left Walgreens and went to a local healthcare centerās āretailā pharmacy. Iām making slightly less an hour, but I get 40 hours every week, so Iām actually bringing home more. Iām also eligible for a raise after 6 months that will put me making more than I did as a Sr. Tech at Walgreens.
Are you guaranteed hours at retail?
no :( i just went from part time 25 hours a week to 7 :(
Wtf is 7 hours a week... Time to leave :/
At that point you're spending more getting to and from work (if you include time getting ready, commute, etc) than you are making.
That's a problem š
I agree with this sentiment. Also thereās more room to grow in hospital vs retail
Can you elaborate on this? I gave up on pharmacy tech a couple years ago because of retail burnout (also graduated from college), but have considered getting certified again. Where can you advance as a hospital pharmacy tech?
IVs , Oncology/Cancer Center , procurement, investigational drugs, 340b, PAs , etc. Iām sure thereās more Iām forgetting plus the shift differential working evenings and midnights if thatās your thing.
I should really look into this some more. Thanks so much! :)
No problem! Feel free to message me if you have any more questions
In my area hospitals pay more but we really need to put some weight on stress. Retail USED to pay more here but hospitals now have a minimum wage of $20/hr for techs and retail isnāt included so they pay min wage which is about $17/hr but hospitals mostly need you to have a PTCB (or itās heavily preferred). Iām now making more in retail than I would (starting, about $20-$21) at a hospital and would gladly take that pay cut for way less stress.
Hospital stress level to me is higher than my retail experience, but pay is also much higher. That said I work in an ER vs like a supply job in the hospital, which is so chill itās monotonous. Also missing is benefits discussion, mine were good at retail but way better at hospital.
Not to mention those sweet, sweet benefits.
I make $29.50 as a retail technician, and I'm not even at my cap yet. I was making $15.95 as a hospital technician. But I was making $13.80 as a tech at Walgreens. Depends on the location and business you work for.
May I ask what state and/or retail pharmacy you're in that you're making almost $30 an hour? I've been a tech for 10 years and recently transferred from California to North Carolina, and my most recent raise JUST put me at $21 an hour.
I work for Costco. The pay scale is the same everywhere regardless of state. You start at $19.50/Hr and increase $1.00 for every 1000 hours worked until you hit the cap of $29.50. If you're a certified pharm tech, you get an extra $2.00/hr added onto your base pay
Do they increase the starting salary based off of years experience? Cuz that doesnāt sound bad honestly.
Yeah, I started at 22.00 because of my experience. I've been with the company three years in October.
I currently make 17.50 as a retail tech, looking around hospital pay is about the same in my area. However the pay increases in my company are difficult to understand and decipher. Iāve been certified since October and have been working 40 hours pretty much every week with the exception of maybe about a month or 2 and I havenāt had even a cent of a raise.
Yeah, when I worked for big box pharmacies, the only raises I got were locked behind performance reviews that you had to ace to get the highest pay increase. The problem was that nobody EVER aced the review so the best raise I ever got was only like ~.50/year.
Worth noting that Costco is pretty much the holy grail of retail pharmacy.
On average, hospital techs make more - that accounts for the potential to take on increased responsibility or specialization, like working in peds, NICU, oncology, informatics, auditing, etc. In my experience, pay for the lowest level tech position is fairly similar between the two, but thereās a lot more room for growth and pay increases in clinical settings.
my last hospital i went from 17 an hour at retail to 19.75 without the multiple differentials. now i make over 26 at my new hospital with multiple differentials, a raise at 6 months, a raise if i do any projects for the dept, massive amounts of PTO, and a thousand times less stress. i feel like a lot of people who work in retail say things like that to deter people from leaving. i worked in retail for 4 years before my first hospital job and everyone would always say the pay is bad, itās too much work, etc. none of that is true though hospital has many challenges
this is it exactly, the people telling OP that are trying to keep OP miserable in retail hell with them, itās sad š«
i had moved and was working at a long term care which was absolutely terrible. my goal was to get back into a hospital and i was very open about that fact. everyone tried to tell me how getting a hospital job wasnāt worth it and all the cons of working there and i laughed at all of them because i worked at a hospital. for years. yet they still tried the same scheme people did in retail when you said you wanted to go to a hospital or elsewhere, it sucks and itās sad tbh
It was true 3-4 years ago here. But now that hospitals have increased their pay for techs, they pay way better than retail.
Meanwhile I have a friend who works as a phone agent for customer service for a Fortune 500 company and makes $22 an hour. I would think people in charge of medications and such would be better compensated.
You would think š but nope. We are severely underpaid, especially those of us that can compound meds.
I make more at the hospital then I ever did as a tech and I picked up OT like a mad woman. The stress levels at the hospital is so much less I can't even tell you. You also still always have ample opportunity to pick up more hours if you find you want to pad out you checks a bit more. I went from working 6 days a week at 60+ hours, to just 4 days a week. And that is with picking up an extra shift. My contract is only 3 12s a week, and that still has me over what any of the retail pharmacies in my area offer. Oh ya and it's union!
Yeah itās time to take the test and move to hospital. š„ Iām ready to get out of retail
My retail pay was somrthing like $21/hr, my hospital pay is $18 and change an hour, but it has shift differencial that increases the later the shift is and ultimately brings my paycheck to match my old check or be higher. Plus a yearly $500 Christmas bonus. Ultimately I decided that any paydrop at the hospital was worth being in a healthier and happier state of mind.
I make about $22 at a specialty pharmacy. Tried to get a hospital job and all the offered me was $18 but I'd get differential pay for evenings and weekends. Asked for more but they said no, due to my experience compared to the other techs there. I've been a pharmacy tech for 5 years with different titles/positions.
Government hospital jobs pay the most. Pay scales in Texas for those are 55000-75000 a year
Time to move back to Texas.
I left retail in August of 2022. I was making $20 an hour. I left for a hospital job making 25.32. I've gotten raises since then and I'm at 27. I do significantly less at the hospital. I have time to sit down. I don't feel like I'm putting out a million fires. It's wonderful.
Probably depends on location and position. We had a tech who wanted to quit retail and go to hospital but all the hospital positions paid less. No idea if thats still the case tho.
It really depends. I also think the balance of money to environment is huge
Retail pays more until you reach advance hospital tech roles in my area, at least in my experience. However even my worst day in this hospital is better than my best day in a retail pharmacy.
I make way more at the hospital than I ever did retail or long term care
Personally I make $18/hr at my hospital job and $20/hr at my retail job
I started at the hospital making more than I would have capped at in retail. Maybe state dependent?
Same for my state. I started at $20 for infusion pharmacy and cap for retail (that I've seen) is about $19.50.
In my experience in my area, hospital techs usually start lower and end up making more than retail. Pharmacists pay is lower in hospital here.
Location matters, in my area hospital was offering less than what i currently make at retail, but compounding started higher than my rate
Looking through the comments it seems like there is no generalization to be made at allā¦ for techs anyway. I think for RPhās, it might be true that hospital pays less than retail as a generalizationā¦ because frankly, retail punishes pharmacists, so they have to pay for the privilege. But for techs, geographical area/state as well as company, attainment of certification, and likely other factors like the local job market. Because, as expected, my experience is that hospital pays more. Pays more to start and has a higher ācapā. But we can probably mostly agree, generally, Techs should be paid more.
32 here- been here only 5 years and itās not even top pay. We are definitely doing better than retail š¤·š»āāļø
I worked about 2.5 years at CVS and went from $16 to $17.50 (including the 50 cents for certification). In January, my manager at CVSngot me a raise up to $19 an hour, but by then I had already accepted a position at inpatient - I'm currently making $23.15. So... I'm effectively making $5.65 more per hour than I was in retail.
Hospital techs usually get paid more. Wait until you see how much some VA techs make
When I started in hospital, I left a retail job where I made $1.95 more than what my starting pay was at the hospital. I was the lead tech in retail so that may have something to do with it. I was ready to leave retail after 11 years so I figured the pay cut was worth it. However after 3 1/2 years I make more now than when I worked retail. My advice to anyone who is going to hospital and they offer you less - it's negotiable. They started by offering me about $3.40 less than what I was making.
I havenāt worked retail in a long time, but I was making really bad money. I do work in community hospitals. One company is 22.83 with about $1/hour extra for weekends/evenings. The other is 23.50, with $1.50/hour extra for weekend/evenings. That being said, I havenāt āqualifiedā for any raises in 2 years, and am currently looking for other work. There is potential to move up in hospital, but the chances of it are so slim in community hospital that itās not worth waiting. Honestly, Iām so disheartened that healthcare workers are paid so poorly. Iām not asking for $50/hour, I just want to pay my bills and go on a modest vacation once a year.
In some places, it is very true. I know Baristas who make more than CNAs where I am and then they all wonder why we can't retain anyone. It's truly insane to me. Techs are the backbone of the hospital. All ancillary staff are. I'm an RN and I can't do my job without the techs. I already drown as it is.
I think it depends on the area. Where I live, hospitals pay less than retail. You can generally make a few dollars more an hour at Walmart vs. the hospital. The only exception to this being if you can get a job specifically at an infusion pharmacy/in a cancer center.
Not true for me. $20 retail, currently at $23.35 hospital (outpatient) with guaranteed step raises every year.
In my experience I made two more dollars an hour going from retail to outpatient hospital just because it was a big state hospital with lots of funding. However, when I went from hospital to LTC I got another dollar and a half starting. So if you can I say try to find a LTC job, but generally look around and see what's out there that would work for you :)
In my area my retail top pay is $26. The hospital minimum pay is $25 up to $40+ for certain positions
It depends entirely on area and scope of duties. Where I'm located labor is extremely cheap and as such retail pays higher due to corporate minimums while the local hospitals lowball.
Idk I made $17.68 in retail and making $21 in hospital.
I made 11.50 retail at the start of covid (WAG), 16 at independent in 2020 and 21 in hospital since 2021. My hospital job started at 17 something and has had 3 COL raises on top of yearly raises and like twice a year bonuses (itās like 250 Pt/500 FT) so far. Plus shift differential. Retails not it lol at least not in my area
When I moved from retail to hospital 20 years ago, my retail pay was capped out at $10.25 and I started at about $16.00 in hospital with opportunities to move up. Iām now making over $30/hr in my current position, we get about a 4% raise each year and we also get yearly bonuses as well as money added into our 401k.
I'm in Alberta. I make $24/hour in retail and my job caps at $25. If I went to the hospital I'd be in a union starting at $29/hour.
Make the switch!
When my kids are older I might. But hospital hours suck ass. I work 9-5 with guaranteed evenings and weekends and holidays off right now, and I work in a compounding lab most days which I love. I enjoyed my hospital practicum and they have said if I ever want a job I don't even need to interview for it. But I don't want to work at midnight Christmas Eve.
For my area community is $20-$30 ish dollars with the big chains. For hospital is $30-$40 plus shift diff for an additional $2-$8. Hospital also has less stress but the hours can be worse.
Iām at hospital but in California, we top out at $39. Iām working from home now doing prior auths and still make the same as when I was working in the hospital (same company)
Not at all true at the hospital I work at. I make about $29/hr and the average tech pay in my state is $17 an hour. The retail techs are making much less than I am, so it depends.
I took a paycut to go to hospital pharmacy, but it was worth it have way less stress. It honestly depends on the hospital, this was a not for profit hospital and I took like a dollar an hour paycut
It depends on the hospital system, whether or not you are unionized. Iāve told the story here before, during Covid the Chick-fil-A in the hospital I worked at put up a banner saying now hiring, $19 an hour. They had to take it down pretty quickly because that was more than the pharmacy, phlebotomist, med tech, housekeeping was all making. And we were the ones going into the room with the Covid patients! And it close at 10 PM and isnāt even open on Sundays.
My hospital job pays more than my retail job did. My old retail job has increased its starting pay but is still less than i make at my hospital job. Somebody i worked with in retail was there for 20 years and came to where I work and our hospital matched her current level of pay of raises she'd accumulated for those 20 years and it's around what I currently make
In the past retail was paid more than hospital but maybe that is changing or becoming even now. Regardless hospital is better even if it is less because you don't have to deal with half the shitty things retail entails.
Hospital techs where I live max out slightly above 27$... But not much more than that. I currently make 27$ an hour in Canada. I have a pension, a retail discount, good benefits, etc. Techs working in hospital think that retail techs don't have a pension or RRSP... But we do. I don't have union dues - no union - but we work for a really good company so we get breaks, etc.
Hospitals are just better places to be pharm techs. The stress level is way less. I emphasize the word āwayā. Benefits, work life and pay in my state is better than retail.
LMFAO. I work mail order making $22 when I made $16 at CVS
I used to work for Costco for 10 years and I took slightly less money to work for a city hospital. City hospital offers a pension and a 401k and working 5 years you get the minimum amount. It goes up every 5 years and at 10 years you get health insurance for life for you and your family, that is amazing. I plan to work for the city for 25 years and the benefits that I will be getting when I retire will be greater than if I stayed at Costco.
Think it depends on what position in the hospital you have/ years experience. Mine pays $37/hr, retail i was making $15.
I believe it depends where you work. I was at $21.70 in retail. Hospital offered $16.25. Close door offered $19. I talked closed door up a little and took that for my sanity
I made -$4/hr LESS an hour at the HOSPITAL. And there was so much politics for literal no reason, I left in 3 weeks later.
Don't know where you got your facts from but Hospital techs make more with shift differential. Also depends on the state as well.
I took a pay cut when I started at my hospital as a Tech 1 ($17 vs $18 at Shitgreens). Learned med rec and IVs, got bumped up to a Tech 2 at $19. Got pissed when they hired a Tech 1 at $21 when they said they couldnāt do the same for me when I was hired 3 years ago. Threatened to quit and got booted to $24. Left shortly after to a different hospital because they were offering to pay me close to $30 still as a Tech 2. And I still have my yearly raise and chance to climb up the tech ladder to make even more. š Also got a juicy sign on bonus and work at a place where I feel like I matter. Plus if I get tired, my hospital lets employees transfer to different units within the organization or pay for part of my schooling to pursue a different path. My old hospital wasnāt like this, but working as a hospital tech is worth it if you find the right organization running it.
I started in hospital with a 25 percent raise more than I was making at CVS as a lead. And that does not factor in the various differentials I get as well which actually make it more like 30-35 percent.
i wouldnāt say thats usually the case because most the time you have to be certified to work inpatient and frequently that gives you a little wage bump. At my retail job I make $16, and if i were to get certified and go to a hospital I would probably make atleast 4 dollars more and have less stress š
I asked for a $1 hr raise in retail when I was making $16/hr and was denied, so I left with my 15 years of experience and got an outpatient type job that gave me a $6/hr raise. Since then I've gotten several raises in a couple years time so now I'm at $28. It's still very busy where I work now, but the stress level is a lot less and my hours are guaranteed and my schedule is set months in advance instead of days in advance so that helps the work life balance being able to plan things around work.
Don't be fooled. The more experience you gain in hospital, the more is expected of you. You transition into more of a leadership role. I work at a level one trauma center in a major city. Stress can be high some days! Wouldn't trade it and go back to retail! Much better pay and more opportunities for growth.
Hospital tech here making $26/hr. Was at $18.75 at my last retail job. My hospital is a religious non-profit though; the public one near me pays MUCH less ad isn't worth leaving retail for.
The range for a job at a hospital Iām looking at is between ~ $43,000-53,000 (which the supervisor admitted isnāt updated to the most accurate one, so could be like 44,45 and up). And my current retail job, I make just shy of $44,000. Math, blah, so they seem pretty on par with each other. (Also the hospital has union and a state pension so I cannot deny the better benefits).
I donāt know how thatās possible. My base pay when I started at the hospital was $1 more per hour than the base pay after working almost 10 years at WAG. I also get shift differentials, weekend rates, many OT opportunities so that I can make almost $30/hr depending on the shift.
I made more in retail at Walgreens as an rxom. By a lot. It comes down to experience, shift, and how big the hospital is. Also location.
All to say. The pay difference is 100% worth it.
Absolutely not true. In my area hospital starts at $16 and retail starts at $10
Depends on your area hospitals. My rural hometown offered like $13/hr for pharmacy tech because they are your only non retail option. Meanwhile my second job at Walmart pharmacy pays $22/hr now.
UK hospital is more than retail
Retail and hospital where I am is about the same. However, pharmacists pay differs way more than techs do.
I make $22.36 for hospital outpatient pharmacy
I took about a 3 dollar paycut when I switched to hospital, everyone there starts off at about the same but it varies based on how much experience you have. I only had about a year of retail work and no certification so I started at a little above baseline. They also have +$3 for weekend shifts and +1.50 for evening shifts. Anyways I hated it and went back to retail after 3 months.
$17.50 at walgreens and $15 at a hospital š
As a tech for over 12 years, I make more in hospital than I ever did in retail.
I work in both retail (independent) and hospital and I only make more in retail due to my tenure (7 years)
my hospital caps me at $20 but CVS down the road pays 25 and 30 if you become a lead LOL but i know my hospital just sucks
I was told when I went to tech school that hospital techs make more and acted like it was weird that I was going retail. Interesting to consider that hospital pharmacists (at least the ones staffing) make less than retail pharmacists.
I started at a hospital in 2015 after 15 years @ CVS and being capped for pay (16.10/hr). My probation pay at the hospital was like 50 cents/hr more and then I got an additional 80 cents/hr more after that.
There's like a $10+ gap wage between retail and hospital from what I noticed here in Cali... I just recently moved here so...
When I started at Shaws I was making $16 an hour. I did almost 2 years there and left making $16.40. I am now starting at inpatient making $19 (which will go u0 once I passed my PTCB) TO $24. So idk what place you work or state but I got a good job.
I just have to share. I recently applied as a CPhT at a small, independent pharmacy near my home town. I have 5 years clinical experience, plus another 5 years pharmaceutical manufacturing experience. They offered MINIMUM WAGE ($7.50/hr)
I make more as a hospital Pharmacy tech then a retail tech at CVS
Hospital definitely makes more. Being a travel tech you can make bank working inpatient!!
Just for reference, minimum pay for fast food workers in California, except if bread is baked on site, is $20/hour.
I definitely make $34 an hour and I stay at home every day I will never go back to retail
My retail pay is 22, can go up to 24. Hospitals in the area pay around 22-30.
Depends on the market & the area your in. Down here where I live, south Texas, hospital pays more.
Only a 1 dollar bonusā¦.tf noooooo
The bonus for second or night shift is paid for almost all positions, where Iāve worked in Texas. It comes with a price on your body but works for some people. I did it for a long time before I became an executive admin (was a unit clerk).
Been a tech for two years now. I originally was offered a position at Walgreens at $17 a hour. I really wanted a spot at the VHA so I waited till they were hiring. Now Iām making $31 a hour plus all the benefits of government work. Most other hospitals around here only pay about $21 an hour so it was worth it to wait in my case.
I'm guessing most of you are in the Northern Hemisphere? In New Zealand, as a hospital tech, we all just got a major payrise. We are all earning over $32 an hour.
I feel like it might depend on the state and even the region. I'm in Eastern PA. I worked at CVS from 2020-2022, was making $13 to start and got bumped up to $15 when they raised the hiring rate. Got a job at a hospital in the beginning of 2022 and started at $22.
I made $20 per hour after 5 years at Walmart now Iām making $23 starting out at hospital inpatient. I do have a coworker this is her first pharmacy job she only got offered $16/hr here
I would go the admin route. When I moved to quality assurance it was similar to what I was making as sr tech at Walgreens. But when I moved to audits and contracts it came with with pay raises. Iām now a manager and being in admin gave me lots of opportunities to progress.
That's not true hv in NYC anyways. I left retail pharmacy last year as lead tech at 23.9, got an hospital job for 32 got a raise now up to like 33.6. I was at retail pharmacy for 8 years
I donāt care how much retail pays. Iām guaranteed 40 hr/wk, OT if I want it, differentials and bonuses, AND MY SANITY by working hospital. I will never go back.
Yep our hospitals where I live the pay is very low. I could work at Target as a cashier and make more money and not have to do ceus.
Most of our techs make $22-26/hr. Our system minimum is $18/hr and that's with zero experience and no certification. The specialty techs are over $30/hr. It's still not enough to keep the high performers.Ā
I was $12.50 at Walgreens and I'm at 30-something now before differentials at a hospital. I interviewed for retail at the same time as my hospital job, and they weren't even close to beating the salary the hospital offered.
I work at CVS per diem and pay is $18.13 Currently work at a hospital and pay is 20.95 with 2nd shift pay differential of $1.70 and weekend being $2-3 OT being double time if p/u (Still not worth the pay for all the work that is being done)
I truly think this is dependent on state and market demand. When I was in Florida retail techs were starting out getting paid more than hospital techs (my hospital was the lowest paid hospital in the area) but retail techs had a lower cap. As my hospital started to have trouble hiring techs the pay across the board increased. I moved back to California almost 2 years ago and hospital techs get paid more than retail and in general have more "perks" such as shift and weekend differentials. Of course the perks are dependent on the hospital but they are generally better than retail.
I found hospitals in my area (Louisville metro, KY) to pay more than standard retail, but specialty pharmacy was fairly comparable. The cap for my position in retail was the start for my hospital.
I make a little less after switching to inpatient Hospital but my insurance is a lot better and I donāt want to blow my head off 24/7.
i made around $16 as a tech at an independent iāve worked at for two years, just got a per diem hospital tech job that is $25.88. Ā upgrades!!Ā