Employment and wage trends among pharmacists and other health care professionals: 2014-2022

The health care employment landscape has significantly changed over the past decade, particularly among pharmacists.

This study aims to explore employment trends among pharmacists across various industries from 2014 to 2022 and compare them with other health care professionals (HCPs), including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and physician assistants.

Employment and wage data for these professions from 2014 to 2022 were obtained from Data USA, while projections for 2033 were sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The analysis focused on the top 10 industries for each profession. Microsoft Excel was used for statistical and trend analysis.

All health care professions have experienced significant employment growth and wage increases since 2014. Pharmacist employment in community pharmacies has gradually declined (from 60% in 2014 to 54% in 2022), while hospital pharmacist employment remained stable. However, pharmacists had a notable increase in employment in food and beverage retailers, general merchandise retailers, ambulatory care, government, wholesale trade, outpatient care centers, federal government, and finance and insurance sectors. The adoption of health informatics tools, such as clinical decision support systems and electronic health records, has facilitated the diversification of pharmacist roles. In contrast, employment trends in other HCPs remained relatively stable.

The pharmacy profession has experienced a shift, with pharmacists moving beyond traditional community pharmacy roles to more diverse sectors. This trend contrasts with the stability in employment trends for other HCPs, underscoring the evolving nature of the pharmacy profession in response to health care needs and legislative support.