Flexible Work Arrangements in Pharmacy Academia: An Overdue Imperative

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered how faculty and staff in higher education, including schools and colleges of pharmacy, experience their work. As pharmacy schools navigate a postpandemic landscape marked by increasing workloads, workforce attrition, and growing burnout, the question of how to define, implement, and equitably distribute flexible work arrangements (FWAs) has become urgent and complex. This commentary examines FWAs in pharmacy academic settings: what they are, why they matter, and how they can be implemented in ways that serve the full workforce. We intentionally extend the conversation beyond faculty to include staff colleagues, who face many of the same pressures but have historically been left out of these discussions. Drawing on pharmacy and higher education literature, as well as broader organizational behavior research, we describe the spectrum of FWA types and summarize evidence on their impact on well-being, job satisfaction, and productivity. We also examine the unique complexities of pharmacy academia (including clinical obligations, accreditation constraints, and satellite campus dynamics)that make one-size-fits-all policies unrealistic. In addition, we address the risks of poorly managed flexibility, including erosion of collegiality, boundary permeability, and uneven impacts across roles and career stages. We close with a call to action for pharmacy school leaders to audit and publish their current FWA policies, engage faculty and staff in designing equitable approaches, and invest in the research needed to advance the field.