Assessing the Alignment Between Pharmacists' Reported Tasks and Employer-Advertised Skills

This study examined the alignment between and changes within the tasks performed by pharmacists and skills sought by pharmacist employers from 2012 to 2022.

The United States Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network (O*NET) surveys a random sample of employees in targeted occupations every 5 years and provides a publicly available database allowing exploration of the frequency with which essential tasks are performed and perceived relevance and importance. Lightcast (formerly Burning Glass) provides labor market analytics of job advertisements; cross-sectional and longitudinal data can be filtered according to occupation, industry, location, and area of specialty. A crosswalk was developed between the top 20 most frequently performed pharmacist tasks (O*NET) and the most frequently-advertised skills by employers for pharmacist positions (Lightcast).

The 5 most frequently performed pharmacist tasks changed minimally over the period, including prescription review and drug information and advice. There was a consistent upward trend in the frequency of interprofessional collaborations and informatics and a downward trend in compounding. Advertised skills fluctuated over the period, with business and management skills most desired. There was a decline in sought-after experience in specific health care settings and some fundamental clinical skills. Emerging skills pertained to patient care, such as vaccination, allergies, diabetes, and wellness.

The fact that prescription review remains the top task from O*NET over the past 10 years and the top advertised skill in Lightcast is patient care underscores the contemporary misalignment and highlights a potential discrepancy in the emphasis of pharmacy education.