It has been an interesting period of time post corona era in the workforce, with asking rates by locums sky rocketing. What have locums been asking for in September 2022?
Sometimes, pharmacies have had to refuse offers due to the high asking price, where some locums have taken advantage of the situation.
Not surprising, considering for years wages have been stagnant for the pharmacist employee. Some, however, have opted to take, cancel, and switch shifts chasing the higher dollar. This, in the long term, will not fare well for such a locum.
Nonetheless, reality is locums are now in high demand. The following is a September month snapshot for the years 2015-2022 and the average rate of a placement during weekday and normal business hours (weekends and public holidays excluded, rounded to the nearest dollar).
It will be interesting to see what the 2023 figures will show.
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Avg Rate ($) | 40 | 42 | 42 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 50 | 69 |
(Last Updated on April 8, 2023)