“The situation is awful. We are sorely short of staff. “Behind his counter in the museum pharmacy, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, Alexandre Mylle seems desperate. The health professional, who took over this small pharmacy three years ago, is looking in vain for a new employee to replace his assistant who will leave next month. Despite a neat announcement, posted repeatedly on various job sites for several months, applications are rare. “And I only deal with unreliable people,” laments the pharmacist. I don’t know how I’m going to hold on, knowing that I’ve already taken a year to recruit the previous one. At that time, I had to work at least 70 hours a week…”
In the four corners of France, pharmacies are facing a shortage of drugs, but also of personnel, according to the number of announcements marked “urgent” circulating on social networks. It must be said that according to a recent survey published by Pôle emploi, pharmacists are in second place in the list of professions where the rate of recruitment difficulties is the highest, behind roofers and zinc workers. “It was a trend that we already saw in rural areas, but which has clearly worsened, notes Carine Wolf-Thal, president of the National Council of theorder of pharmacists. The health crisis was a very trying period for health professionals, including all pharmacy professions (in pharmacies, biologists, hospitals, etc.). As for other sectors, it has also largely changed the relationship to work. »
“Young people don’t want to settle down anymore”
Insufficient number of candidates, inadequate profiles, working conditions… These are the main reasons often put forward by recruiters in France and who find themselves in the pharmacy, in particular dispensaries, who are also traders. “The time slots are important with sometimes an opening on Saturday, it is necessary to manage the difficulties of supply, the sometimes strong pressure of the patient, the problems of the district, the parking…”, enumerates Dominique Moreau, manager for 20 years of Arcane agency, specialized in pharmacy recruitment. He too has seen the situation deteriorate, as he currently receives around ten new requests per week from employers in the PACA region. “The young people who invest in these long studies then no longer want to settle down, lock themselves up, he continues. Rather than permanent contracts, the interim is therefore much more buoyant at the moment, for its flexibility and freedom. »
A way for the few candidates, necessarily more greedy, to be better paid while the thorny question of salary also comes into play. In Paris, Alexandre Mylle almost found the right person for the job, until he talks about compensation. “She was just out of college and asked me for a 750 coefficient [un salaire auquel un pharmacien peut prétendre après un certain nombre d’années d’expérience], but I, as the manager of a small business, can’t keep up, it’s not possible! “Of course we can’t work miracles…”, observes Carine Wolf-Thal, while the average salary of an assistant pharmacist is around 3,500 euros net per month.
Reduction of hours
Faced with the shortage, which also affects the profession of pharmacy preparer, pharmacies are therefore trying to organize themselves. A rare occurrence a few years ago, more and more of them are reducing their hours, closing certain Saturdays, even several weeks in the summer on the occasion of the holidays. Some also choose to group together. And while some professionals have retrained or stopped a little earlier than expected, the Order of Pharmacists believes that a real work of reconquest is to be done with young people.
” More’a thousand seats at the university are vacant, worries the president of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists. The reform of health studies is not very readable, and there is still a lack of knowledge about our profession. It is unfortunate and paradoxical, because in a context of medical deserts, it is sometimes the gateway to the health system. Among the levers, the order would also like to “facilitate the hiring in France” of European graduates.