Pharmacy Technician Jobs
With people living longer than ever and the Baby Boomer generation creating an older majority, almost any health care career choice has a good outlook. Pharmacy technician jobs, however, are growing even more rapidly than most other careers in health. There are a couple other reasons for this incredible growth other than just increasing human life expectancies.
One new trend is creating a lot of the new pharmacy technician jobs and that is the trend of small pharmacies inside bigger stores. Grocery stores, discount stores like Walmart and even some higher end department stores are doing everything they can to become the one stop shopping solution for today's busy people. Most of these type of mini-pharmacies will only have the budget for one licensed pharmacist but will have several pharmacy technician jobs.
Another thing that is heavily influencing the rise in pharmacy technician jobs is that more people are insured today. Several states have passed mandatory insurance laws, as well as the new health care reform laws already passed and in development on the federal level. As this trend continues, more and more people will have insurance to cover their medication needs and therefore more people will be taking medications.
Pharmacy Technician Job Outlook
The future is bright for pharmacy jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They forecast a 31% increase in pharmacy technician jobs through 2018, a much faster growth rate than the average. The reasons given for this rosy prediction are that demand itself will increase.
Not only are there more middle-aged and elderly people now than those of earlier generations, more people have access to insurance and drug coverage and that number should continue to increase. There are also many more drugs being released and approved compared to the past.
The main reason for more pharmacy technician jobs to be created is that it is a cost-saving measure for many insurers, hospitals and nursing centers. Pharmacists are being involved in patient care on a greater level than ever before, increasing the need for the lower salaried pharmacy technicians to tend to many of the duties of the pharmacy.
The majority of opportunities developing will be for those who have formal training, certification, and hands-on experience. As the employment base broadens, these more experienced techs will be more likely to see supervisory opportunities open up.
Often with continuing education, pharmacy technicians can make the eventual transition to licensed pharmacist. The experience that they get as a technician will stand them in good stead if they decide to pursue that avenue.
