Jennifer Morrow says she first considered quitting her job as a pharmacist at a CVS drugstore near Binghamton, N.Y., last October after she was assigned to fill in at a store she’d rarely worked in. When she arrived, she discovered she’d be the only pharmacist on the job all day—with no technician or cashier to help, either. The pandemic was raging. The phones were ringing, and prescriptions quickly backed up as she turned her attention to giving Covid-19 vaccinations and flu shots. By 4 p.m., she was hours behind schedule. Overwhelmed, exhausted, and worried she’d make a mistake filling a prescription, she closed the pharmacy early, forcing customers to find other stores.
Not long after that day, Morrow, who’d worked for CVS for eight years, quit her job when working conditions continued to deteriorate. “I would say a little prayer before I went into work, ‘Lord, please let me help somebody today,’ ” she says. “But that white coat got heavier and heavier every day, and my prayer changed to, ‘Dear Lord, just don’t let me kill somebody today.’ ”
Big pharmacy chains across the country are straining under the weight of the enduring pandemic, and no one is suffering more than their frontline workers. Pharmacy operators are struggling to staff stores with many employees out sick with the omicron variant and others fleeing for new jobs. The two giants, CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. faced huge challenges before the pandemic. Insurers were squeezing their profits even as Amazon and other online services chipped away at their prescription businesses. Then an unexpected windfall of vaccine and testing revenue—$3 billion alone for CVS in 2021—helped ease that pressure. But labor shortages remain a challenge. Even before omicron, staff were exhausted and stretched thin. Now the ranks in some areas of the country are decimated, forcing stores to curtail pharmacy hours or close for days at a time.
Bloomberg spoke with a dozen current and former Walgreens and CVS pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, most of whom requested anonymity because they feared retaliation. More responded to Bloomberg’s reporting request via email and text messages, detailing crushing workloads in sparsely staffed stores.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
Bottom-Fishing Can Be Scary
In a rough year for stocks, it’s tempting to try to grab bargains now. Just be careful
RETHINKING FAIR PAY
Companies are overhauling compensation amid an uptick in relocations
MAKING CONTACT
Getting close enough to touch an animal usually isn't a great idea. But in a quiet lagoon on Mexico's Baja Peninsula, the whales are happy to oblige
BUILD BACKS BETTER
In a scoliosis market where treatments have changed little since the 1970s, even new brace technology shows how far we still have to go
ASTRONOMICAL HARASSMENT
A long-term survey of women in astronomy reveals a sordid culture of discrimination and inequality in academia
The Teen Who Defied DeFi
How a young math whiz nabbed $16 million by exploiting decentralized finance | Index Finance was one of the great hopes of decentralized finance, the blockchain-based movement challenging Wall Street's gatekeepers. With one swift set of transactions, an 18-year-old math prodigy liquidated $16 million of its assets and opened a new legal frontier
Nigerian Projects Stall as Chinese Loans Dry Up
President Buhari's legacy could be marred by Beijing's waning appetite for costly public works abroad
The Twitter Deal's Big Debt Bill
If the acquisition goes through, the company will face mounting interest expenses as it tries to grow
The Very Last of Lehman Brothers
The bank whose collapse marked the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis is only mostly dead. Meet the people attending to its final remains
This Time Is Different
The slump that startups thought would never happen has arrived
Tom Cruise: MAN ON A MISSION
THE ACTOR STOPPED AT NOTHING TO MAKE M:1 7 AND 8 AND TOP GUN: MAVERICK. NOW HE'S FEELING THE PRESSURE.
HOW POLITICS POISONED THE CHURCH
THE EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT SPENT 40 YEARS AT WAR WITH SECULAR AMERICA. NOW IT'S AT WAR WITH ITSELF.
Level Ground
A dairy farming father's love for his family lives on in the tools that he left behind.
AIRBNB Allows Employees to Live and Work From Anywhere
Airbnb will allow its employees to live and work almost anywhere around the world, fully embracing a remote work policy to attract staff and ensure flexibility.
An Overview of Namibia's Agri Sector
In a recent report, the Namibia Agricultural Union outlined the state of that country’s agriculture sector, and how it has been affected by COVID-19 and other factors.
Lockdown Hell
Critics call on Chinese government to ease lockdown regulations
a GOOD READ
James Read is a far cry from his villainous alter ego on DAYS.
VOICES AS TOLD TO LIFE'S Work
Better Things creator and star PAMELA ADLON on how the show gave her an OPPORTUNITY to REINVENT some things about the way HOLLYWOOD operates-both on-screen and off
Meghan's LIFE WITHOUT HARRY
Nearly four years after their royal wedding, the fairy tale appears to be over for Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle
AMAZON ADDS 5% ‘FUEL AND INFLATION SURCHARGE' TO SELLER FEES
Amazon is taking a step to off set its rising costs, announcing this week it will add a 5% “fuel and inflation surcharge” to fees it charges thirdparty sellers who use the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment services.