New Raven’s salary report

EMPLOYMENT opportunities remain strong within the community and hospital pharmacy sectors, with shortages of skilled pharmacists leading to wage growth in both metropolitan and regional areas.

That’s one of the key conclusions of a newly released report on the pharmacy jobs market from industry recruitment agency Raven’s Recruitment, which has collated data and commentary from across the sector to produce the inaugural “Raven’s Market Report”.

Raven’s Recruitment GM Heidi Dariz said the research provided an opportunity for employers to assess how competitive their pharmacy was from a salary perspective as well as giving an insight into the current market conditions and availability of pharmacists.

Job seekers could use the report to assess their value to both prospective and current employers, as well as providing insights into what employers are actually offering in the “real world,” she said.

Pharmacists working in regional and rural areas are paid significantly more than their capital city counterparts, with the report indicating total annual salaries for Pharmacist Managers, excluding superannuation, can be as high as $140,000.

By contrast in Perth, where the lowest pharmacist salaries were reported, pay for Pharmacist Managers was in the range of $75,000 to $86,000.

The story was similar at the other end of the experience scale, with interns in Sydney earning $46,800 to $54,000 plus super, versus $50,000-$63,000 for those in regional and rural NSW.

The report also provides Indicative rates for Pharmacist in Charge and Pharmacist Roles in various states and territories of Australia along with New Zealand, as well as wages paid to support staff such as Retail Managers and Dispensary Technicians.

Rates for locum work are included, while the report also incorporates a number of case studies on working in rural and regional pharmacy alongside comments from Sigma Health, TerryWhite Chemmart, Pharmacy 4 Less, the Pharmacy Guild, NAPSA and the Pharmaceutical Society.

A pharmacy broker update from AP Group also notes a significant increase in quality pharmacies on the market during 2017-18.

The full report is available free at ravensrecruitment.com.au.