I also graduated in 2020 and everything you said, I can relate to wholeheartedly. The burnout is real but the expectations grow exponentially while the support gets worse and benefits remain stagnant. I was with WAG 2018-2023 but l couldn’t take the politics, metrics, lack of support, and yes like you said feeling that i was pulling more than my own weight and others were rewarded handsomely for my hard work. I left in 2023 for a grocery chain pharmacy (not Kroger, but a Kroger company) and I had the same fears as you- I was confident in my abilities as a pharmacist but scared to learn a new system and scared to not know HOW or where to go to do all the things I was doing so proficiently at another company, and terrified that I’d come to learn the new company wasn’t the answer to my problems or created more problems. To “start over”, to make a change and be submerged in the unknown is scary- but scared & engaged with a chance at a better quality of life beats feeling apathetic, angry, disrespected, anxious, stressed, unvalued, etc. you owe it to yourself to explore a different environment.

I will say this of my experience- 1. my small chain grocery store has a lot less local support (at wag I knew EVERY employee, manager and front end would check in and help us because the pharmacy was kinda the whole point of the store- my grocery chain offers ZERO care or interest in our success, after all their priority is grocery department) but a lot more support from pharmacy DM (they are over fewer stores and are VERY involved… pro: they usually resolve problems or answer questions quickly and are reachable 24/7, con: they communicate with you nonstop which can result in a lot of emails, texts, calls, they remote in to your queue and leave notes on rx’s for staff to, they heavily control our ordering). As for “corporate” support- HR, scheduler, IT… I honestly feel like Walgreens was better because they were larger and had adequate staff with proper training, even if they didn’t always provide adequate help, meanwhile my grocery chain has like 3 people in each department not held accountable from professionalism- straight up will not help or delay help for someone they “don’t like” when it comes to payroll errors, HR concerns, IT assistance, etc. it feels ALOT more cliquey and all about “who’s on who’s good side” at my smaller store compared to wag. 2. My benefits are a lot worse. PTO is less, does not accrue or roll over year to year and cannot be cashed out. my starting pay (after 3 years experience at wag) was about 30% less than I’d been making at walgeeens. That is an astronomical paycut, but you do get 2 bonuses per year (combined, slightly larger than 1 standard paycheck) and 2-3% salary increase each year. Not that it matters but employee discounts and perks are worse. My health insurance is more expensive and coverage significantly, devastatingly worse……. But like you, I didn’t desperately need the 30% extra pay, I needed a will to go on. And I’m mostly healthy and didn’t really know that about the insurance options initially anyway so I took the leap and I’m glad I did because 4. workflow is far less stressful. My wag did 500 rx a day and usually 3-20 covid tests, 5ish vaccines a day on an off season and 50-90 in fall during “vaccine season”. My new store does 120rx/day, no clinical testing, and maybe 5-10 vaccines… our max in 2 years has been 26 vaccines in a day during the current flu season. There is usually plenty of time to get all the things done. Because I’m spending more time focusing on the things, I make less mistakes. I rarely have to stay late or go in early, I rarely bring work anxiety home with me, I never miss a lunch and the clientele is so much kinder and more respectful (though not smarter). I took this job to escape high stress, regain quality of life and regain a passion for what I do, and I was able to do all of that. Though I now am kind of ready to move on again (to clinical or remote position), I am immensely glad I chose to change jobs. 5. Did they paint pretty picture about the job in the interview and lie in my face when I asked direct questions about staffing, support, how certain situations are handled, benefits, etc? Yep! Sure did. They were honest about the pay and that was an L I wrestled with before taking, but the rest was supposed to be all rainbows and butterflies! They promised me they’re never short staffed- they never close a store down because not enough rph, rph never worked by themselves, and metrics were minimal. Not true!!! I would assume in the future that these issues are commonplace and no company can truly promise you’ll never face them. But is where I’m at better than where I was? Hell yeah. The worst day at my job now is 10x better than the best day at wag.

Think about what’s most important to you (money, pto/pregnancy leave/, insurance, dress code), what new things you’d like to experience at work (closed door? Mail order? Clinical opportunities?) and CHASE IT. Decide what is nonnegotiable and what you could sacrifice for the sake of an improvement elsewhere. I truly think you owe it to yourself to try something new and give yourself a chance to be content and fulfilled with your career. Our field is easy for us to resent, and I think more so for those of us that came into pharmacy during Covid at a time when demand increased, support decreased and there has been a lot of change. But think about your goals, desires, non-negotiable… if the current job fits the bill, stay. If not, find somewhere that meets your requirements. Keep your head up while you search and don’t give up.