(06-30-2019 10:55 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(06-30-2019 11:44 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 08:56 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

They should have brought more value to the company.

that's not what it's about...it's about declining reimbursements from insurance squeezing away our pharmacy profit margin. They can't dump CVS/Caremark so they cut away from overlap hours. It sounds nice on a balance sheet but it also takes away from patient safety. Same issues we see at Boots in the UK...a bunch of tired and over worked PharmDs lead to errors.

how do you get tired over worked to what you said above...the quoted part below? It seems to me like in the below quote you are complaining about WalMart "cutting hours to a max of 48 a week". In the above you are complaining about over worked and tired. Did you know that since WalMart got a tax cut they raised hourly wages by $2 to $3 an hour for most of their employees? These are people that went from $9 to $12.

It's funny how the tax cut was not a probably to you...till your hours got cut. Not one word from you on it. Till now. Kind of selfish on your part.

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

oh, it's clear what they are doing...they're cutting senior pharmacists hours to get em to quit, knowing they can't live on 48 hours every 2 weeks. It's not coincidence that June is when the grads are taking their Pharmacy board exams. Get rid of the folks who have been with you 20 years making 75 bucks an hour and hire a recent grad with loads of debt who will work like a slave for 50 an hour because their loans are all coming due.

it's why you don't see young folks wanting to stay 25-30 years with a company anymore...there is no loyalty.

as to the timing, of course people become upset when it's folks they care about having their lives turned upside down...if you shrug off stuff like that you've become jaded to a point I hope I never come close to.

(06-29-2019 08:19 PM)Kronke Wrote:  So, even highly educated, high-skilled people are losing jobs in a good economy, mass automation is coming, and you STILL want to keep the floodgates open? Why? What are all these people going to do in 20 years? I think Bloomberg says 80 million jobs are already set to be automated within that time.

How does amazon-owned PillPack affect what you do?

I don’t know if UofM missed this or he just ignored it, but I’m quoting it in attempt to get a reply. I’m particularly interested in his cognitive dissonance re: his company hemorrhaging jobs in an economy that honestly, likely won’t ever get any better than it is today, we know mass automation and AI is coming, and yet he still advocates for unlimited immigration. I’ll ask again, what are all these people going to be doing in 20 years?

Also, is PillPack a threat to your line of work? I don’t see why anyone even needs a pharmacy anymore, when amazon delivers it to you and even divides it up into AM/PM individual packets. I don’t know if they’ve automated that service yet, but they are undoubtedly working on it.

(07-01-2019 12:28 AM)Kronke Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 08:19 PM)Kronke Wrote:  So, even highly educated, high-skilled people are losing jobs in a good economy, mass automation is coming, and you STILL want to keep the floodgates open? Why? What are all these people going to do in 20 years? I think Bloomberg says 80 million jobs are already set to be automated within that time.

How does amazon-owned PillPack affect what you do?

I don’t know if UofM missed this or he just ignored it, but I’m quoting it in attempt to get a reply. I’m particularly interested in his cognitive dissonance re: his company hemorrhaging jobs in an economy that honestly, likely won’t ever get any better than it is today, we know mass automation and AI is coming, and yet he still advocates for unlimited immigration. I’ll ask again, what are all these people going to be doing in 20 years?

Also, is PillPack a threat to your line of work? I don’t see why anyone even needs a pharmacy anymore, when amazon delivers it to you and even divides it up into individual packets.

most of these folks aren't looking to be PharmD's...they take jobs in landscape, construction, waste management, janitorial services, hard labor, etc. Those jobs aren't going anywhere and most legal citizens aren't lining up to apply for them.

Pill Pack and mail order in general still have to have PharmDs and Certified Techs...that said we have lots of customers who HATE it and prefer to buy it cash off the 4/9 dollar generic list over using mail order.

(07-01-2019 12:37 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  most of these folks aren't looking to be PharmD's...they take jobs in landscape, construction, waste management, janitorial services, hard labor, etc.

That's a myth. The biggest workplace immigration raid in the past decade occurred in Dallas a few months ago, and it was a tech company.

Besides, automation is coming for a lot of those jobs, as well.

(07-01-2019 12:37 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  Pill Pack and mail order in general still have to have PharmDs and Certified Techs...that said we have lots of customers who HATE it and prefer to buy it cash off the 4/9 dollar generic list over using mail order.

For now, but if amazon gets involved with something, you better believe it is because they have an intention of automating it.

we already have the machine that tests your blood pressure, pulse, weight, vision...then asks your age and gender. Those results can be sent to the Pharmacist who can then check your A1C and make OTC med recommendations like Red Yeast Rice for cholesterol or low dose aspirin for blood pressure. Broke mans check up...

(06-30-2019 04:52 PM)Old Blue Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American. I do believe when you simply close the front door folks start using the windows. I would be fine with sending a few thousand National Guard troops along with increasing the number of ICE agents to help secure the border. I do not support building an expensive fence or using warrants not signed by judges to round up Illegals who are just trying to live. We should develop some kind of Amnesty such as you must maintain work and a clean record or you're out or...serve in the military to secure citizenship.

I think it's kinda off topic but that's my opinion.

this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

Ok I'll admit I'm not all that familiar with what a pharmacy tech does. So excuse me if all it seems to be is taking a handfull of pills from the big jar and throwing them into little jars. Oh, and the ability to read real bad hand writing. Am I wrong about that? Machines are coming whether we're ready or not.

Sent from my LG-H932 using CSNbbs mobile app

Basically cashiers.

“Do you have any questions?”, uhh no, same stuff as last month. “Ok, do you have a fuel points reward card?” enter that code now.

Thanks! Good night!

Glorified grocery bagger with a more spiffy costume and a plastic name tag

(07-01-2019 12:28 AM)Kronke Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 08:19 PM)Kronke Wrote:  So, even highly educated, high-skilled people are losing jobs in a good economy, mass automation is coming, and you STILL want to keep the floodgates open? Why? What are all these people going to do in 20 years? I think Bloomberg says 80 million jobs are already set to be automated within that time.

How does amazon-owned PillPack affect what you do?

I don’t know if UofM missed this or he just ignored it, but I’m quoting it in attempt to get a reply. I’m particularly interested in his cognitive dissonance re: his company hemorrhaging jobs in an economy that honestly, likely won’t ever get any better than it is today, we know mass automation and AI is coming, and yet he still advocates for unlimited immigration. I’ll ask again, what are all these people going to be doing in 20 years?

Also, is PillPack a threat to your line of work? I don’t see why anyone even needs a pharmacy anymore, when amazon delivers it to you and even divides it up into AM/PM individual packets. I don’t know if they’ve automated that service yet, but they are undoubtedly working on it.

I would imagine a pharmacy would be needed for someone who is sick, needs a prescription, and wants to start immediately. Amazon is a long way off of having the meds sitting on my front porch as I get home from the doctor. Also, I'd imagine some drugs, like Viagara or diet pills, people would want dispensed to them in privacy and may not even want everyone in their household to know they are taking it, much less having it sitting on the front porch.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

(07-01-2019 05:02 AM)JMUDunk Wrote:  

(06-30-2019 04:52 PM)Old Blue Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American. I do believe when you simply close the front door folks start using the windows. I would be fine with sending a few thousand National Guard troops along with increasing the number of ICE agents to help secure the border. I do not support building an expensive fence or using warrants not signed by judges to round up Illegals who are just trying to live. We should develop some kind of Amnesty such as you must maintain work and a clean record or you're out or...serve in the military to secure citizenship.

I think it's kinda off topic but that's my opinion.

this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

Ok I'll admit I'm not all that familiar with what a pharmacy tech does. So excuse me if all it seems to be is taking a handfull of pills from the big jar and throwing them into little jars. Oh, and the ability to read real bad hand writing. Am I wrong about that? Machines are coming whether we're ready or not.

Sent from my LG-H932 using CSNbbs mobile app

Basically cashiers.

“Do you have any questions?”, uhh no, same stuff as last month. “Ok, do you have a fuel points reward card?” enter that code now.

Thanks! Good night!

Glorified grocery bagger with a more spiffy costume and a plastic name tag

You seem to have Pharmacy Cashiers confused with a Tech...the cashiers just ring people up and can’t enter the secure prescription area. That said only really high volume stores have those. My store does not.

Of course I’m not going to mock someone’s work...people work so the can live, I won’t knock someone for that.

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American. I do believe when you simply close the front door folks start using the windows. I would be fine with sending a few thousand National Guard troops along with increasing the number of ICE agents to help secure the border. I do not support building an expensive fence or using warrants not signed by judges to round up Illegals who are just trying to live. We should develop some kind of Amnesty such as you must maintain work and a clean record or you're out or...serve in the military to secure citizenship.

I think it's kinda off topic but that's my opinion.

this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

So I'm assuming your store had 3 pharmacists..

One left and one cut hours, so the hours of the store is not affected..

Then the techs are no longer getting 80 hours per period, just down to 50 hours? So 25 a week?

You said you're not in a big store so I'm assuming that the cuts are not because of Wal Mart but because of the volume of business being done.

I'm just spitballing here.

(07-01-2019 10:24 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American. I do believe when you simply close the front door folks start using the windows. I would be fine with sending a few thousand National Guard troops along with increasing the number of ICE agents to help secure the border. I do not support building an expensive fence or using warrants not signed by judges to round up Illegals who are just trying to live. We should develop some kind of Amnesty such as you must maintain work and a clean record or you're out or...serve in the military to secure citizenship.

I think it's kinda off topic but that's my opinion.

this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

So I'm assuming your store had 3 pharmacists..

One left and one cut hours, so the hours of the store is not affected..

Then the techs are no longer getting 80 hours per period, just down to 50 hours? So 25 a week?

You said you're not in a big store so I'm assuming that the cuts are not because of Wal Mart but because of the volume of business being done.

I'm just spitballing here.

it's not a store issue but Walmart changing how it looks at it's Health and Wellness team in the wake of greatly reduced insurance reimbursement...CVS/Caremark already has bad reimbursement for Walmart but once they get Aetna it will only get worse.

as for our store hours, they have been cut, but that's because they hire idiots on the Front End to run the registers...we had one steal 14k to buy a VW and get her lights back on...that's just one example.

https://wreg.com/2019/05/30/cashier-accu...art-store/

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American.

Exactly how are we making it harder?

(07-01-2019 10:37 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(07-01-2019 10:24 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American. I do believe when you simply close the front door folks start using the windows. I would be fine with sending a few thousand National Guard troops along with increasing the number of ICE agents to help secure the border. I do not support building an expensive fence or using warrants not signed by judges to round up Illegals who are just trying to live. We should develop some kind of Amnesty such as you must maintain work and a clean record or you're out or...serve in the military to secure citizenship.

I think it's kinda off topic but that's my opinion.

this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

So I'm assuming your store had 3 pharmacists..

One left and one cut hours, so the hours of the store is not affected..

Then the techs are no longer getting 80 hours per period, just down to 50 hours? So 25 a week?

You said you're not in a big store so I'm assuming that the cuts are not because of Wal Mart but because of the volume of business being done.

I'm just spitballing here.

it's not a store issue but Walmart changing how it looks at it's Health and Wellness team in the wake of greatly reduced insurance reimbursement...CVS/Caremark already has bad reimbursement for Walmart but once they get Aetna it will only get worse.

as for our store hours, they have been cut, but that's because they hire idiots on the Front End to run the registers...we had one steal 14k to buy a VW and get her lights back on...that's just one example.

https://wreg.com/2019/05/30/cashier-accu...art-store/

UofM.. You could've made your argument with the first paragraph and I'd been like well dang look at that..

But your second paragraph goes back to it being a store issue. It's bleeding money from mismanagement and dumb decisions. Corporate won't bail out bad decisions of individual stores only when their policies do it.. And they're going to cut costs and pharmacists make a good deal of money and I suspect as a "certified pharmacy tech" you probably make more than minimum wage.. Matter of fact anyone in that department makes more than minimum starting out and after 90 days gets a raise, and etc., as time goes raises are going out. I doubt you're making gdunn money as a pharmacy tech but you're probably not doing too shabby.

(07-01-2019 11:46 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American.

Exactly how are we making it harder?

more compliance rules for h-1b visas...foreign students at US Colleges have dropped 17% since 2017, 'extreme vetting', muslim bans...things like that.

(07-01-2019 01:29 PM)gdunn Wrote:  

(07-01-2019 10:37 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(07-01-2019 10:24 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(06-29-2019 06:22 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  I believe in legal immigration but the issue is we keep making it harder and harder to legally become an American. I do believe when you simply close the front door folks start using the windows. I would be fine with sending a few thousand National Guard troops along with increasing the number of ICE agents to help secure the border. I do not support building an expensive fence or using warrants not signed by judges to round up Illegals who are just trying to live. We should develop some kind of Amnesty such as you must maintain work and a clean record or you're out or...serve in the military to secure citizenship.

I think it's kinda off topic but that's my opinion.

this topic at hand matters to me because I work at a Walmart Pharmacy as a Certified RX Tech...we lost a Pharmacist, had another cut back to 48 hours per pay period, plus had our Tech hours cut by 30 hours. It sucks seeing good folks with high level degrees lose their job.

So I'm assuming your store had 3 pharmacists..

One left and one cut hours, so the hours of the store is not affected..

Then the techs are no longer getting 80 hours per period, just down to 50 hours? So 25 a week?

You said you're not in a big store so I'm assuming that the cuts are not because of Wal Mart but because of the volume of business being done.

I'm just spitballing here.

it's not a store issue but Walmart changing how it looks at it's Health and Wellness team in the wake of greatly reduced insurance reimbursement...CVS/Caremark already has bad reimbursement for Walmart but once they get Aetna it will only get worse.

as for our store hours, they have been cut, but that's because they hire idiots on the Front End to run the registers...we had one steal 14k to buy a VW and get her lights back on...that's just one example.

https://wreg.com/2019/05/30/cashier-accu...art-store/

UofM.. You could've made your argument with the first paragraph and I'd been like well dang look at that..

But your second paragraph goes back to it being a store issue. It's bleeding money from mismanagement and dumb decisions. Corporate won't bail out bad decisions of individual stores only when their policies do it.. And they're going to cut costs and pharmacists make a good deal of money and I suspect as a "certified pharmacy tech" you probably make more than minimum wage.. Matter of fact anyone in that department makes more than minimum starting out and after 90 days gets a raise, and etc., as time goes raises are going out. I doubt you're making gdunn money as a pharmacy tech but you're probably not doing too shabby.

most certified techs at Wally World start around 16.50-19.50 per hour depending on experience...if you get hired as Lead Certified Tech 20-22 per hour. (plus cost of living raises every year)

Walmart Health and Wellness (Pharmacy, Optical, Clinics) is essentially a separate company within Walmart so things on the Front End like Cashiers, Stockers, Cart runners, etc have nothing to do with our Rx Hours.

it's more about over all pharmacy profit margins. Since Caremark and soon Aetna are owned by CVS they don't reimburse Walmart like they would a CVS location. so we can actually do more scripts (we're up 2.9% from last year) and make less money because Caremark, Aetna, Medicare, and Medicaid aren't using the same reimbursement model as they have in the past leading to decreased profit margins.

How long until the vast majority of Pharmacists work is done by automation? Lets face it. A machine can accurately count pills and put them in a tube with a label. Other than formularies that are actually mixed by a Pharmacist, I see no reason automation could not do most of their work...and do it with more accuracy and speed.

(07-01-2019 03:13 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  How long until the vast majority of Pharmacists work is done by automation? Lets face it. A machine can accurately count pills and put them in a tube with a label. Other than formularies that are actually mixed by a Pharmacist, I see no reason automation could not do most of their work...and do it with more accuracy and speed.

why do we have surgeons when a machine is far more steady, precise, and never gets tired? why do we have pilots when Auto-Pilot can do everything from takeoff to landings?

the list goes on and on but there is something to be said for a humans judgement, reasoning, and experience IMHO.

it's the same reason when you call a call center we all hit '0' and '#' until a human picks up...

(07-01-2019 03:17 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(07-01-2019 03:13 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  How long until the vast majority of Pharmacists work is done by automation? Lets face it. A machine can accurately count pills and put them in a tube with a label. Other than formularies that are actually mixed by a Pharmacist, I see no reason automation could not do most of their work...and do it with more accuracy and speed.

why do we have surgeons when a machine is far more steady, precise, and never gets tired? why do we have pilots when Auto-Pilot can do everything from takeoff to landings?

the list goes on and on but there is something to be said for a humans judgement, reasoning, and experience IMHO.

it's the same reason when you call a call center we all hit '0' and '#' until a human picks up...

They're working on AI to replace all call center employees. Yang says AI will get to a point where you won't even realize you aren't talking to a human.

(07-01-2019 03:22 PM)Kronke Wrote:  

(07-01-2019 03:17 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(07-01-2019 03:13 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  How long until the vast majority of Pharmacists work is done by automation? Lets face it. A machine can accurately count pills and put them in a tube with a label. Other than formularies that are actually mixed by a Pharmacist, I see no reason automation could not do most of their work...and do it with more accuracy and speed.

why do we have surgeons when a machine is far more steady, precise, and never gets tired? why do we have pilots when Auto-Pilot can do everything from takeoff to landings?

the list goes on and on but there is something to be said for a humans judgement, reasoning, and experience IMHO.

it's the same reason when you call a call center we all hit '0' and '#' until a human picks up...

They're working on AI to replace all call center employees. Yang says AI will get to a point where you won't even realize you aren't talking to a human.

I love when I call comcast and answer the computer's question and it plays the sound of typing. That feature had to have gone through test groups and it was probably decided people like to hear it.

Automation is scary. Imagine having spent your whole life to perfect a craft - and then a robot just puts you to shame.

Architecture is somewhat safe - and I qualify that statement as parts of the architectural process can be automated.

I sympathize with you Drew, except that this is becoming commonplace and your luck held out this time around. I hope it holds long enough for you to complete your career but it aint looking good. And you aren't alone.