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Filling the pharmacist pipeline

J. Michael Jones/Getty Images

Pharmacists are among the highest-paid healthcare professionals in the US, but the industry has nevertheless struggled to attract and retain talent in recent years.

The Covid-19 pandemic placed additional demands on pharmacists, as they were asked to manage new testing protocols and vaccinations without additional staff support. These pressures led to walkouts at major retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens. At the same time, fewer students started enrolling in pharmacy school. The number of applications to colleges of pharmacy declined by more than 64,000 between the 2011–2012 and 2021–2022 school years, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

As a result, many pharmacies are now facing a labor shortage, with the number of open jobs outpacing expected graduates from pharmacy school programs. “We know that pharmacists are critical to the healthcare of our communities, and we don’t have enough in the marketplace,” Sal Venegas, SVP, talent management for Walgreens, told HR Brew.

Walgreens is seeking to tackle this issue by covering prerequisite courses for employees interested in pursuing a pharmacy degree. The program is expanding after a successful pilot, and Walgreens hopes it will help the chain strengthen its pharmacist talent pipeline, Venegas said.

For more on how Walgreens is seeking to address the pharmacist shortage, keep reading here.—CV

Presented By GoodTime

The hiring insights shaping talent in 2026

Hiring challenges are no longer limited to talent scarcity. In GoodTime’s 2026 Hiring Insights Report, 90% of 500+ TA leaders reported that their companies missed hiring goals, and 60% said time-to-hire has increased.

What’s dragging the hiring process down? Scheduling. The report found that recruiters spend over a third (38%) of their time on scheduling-related work. Now leaders are using AI to close gaps and give time back to their teams.

A whopping 99.8% of surveyed leaders reported using, piloting, or planning for AI agents in their strategies. And the performance gap is clear: The report found that teams using automated scheduling are 1.6x more likely to hit their hiring goals.

Get the scoop in the full report.

DEI

Nice Need to have

Credit: Maceo Owens

No one understands the value of employee resource groups (ERGs) quite like Maceo Owens.

She’s benefitted from them as an employee. She’s advocated for them as a lead and HR professional. And she’s helped build them as the founder and CEO of her consultancy, the ERG Movement. Each of these experiences have informed how she sees, and helps organizations to see, ERGs.

“I really like to lean into them as internal marketing engines that just leverage community to help people to love a company more or to want to stay,” she said during a recent episode of HR Brew’s People Person podcast. “And executives,” she later added, “they typically understand that concept.”

Owens sat down with Kate Noel, SVP and head of people operations at Morning Brew, to discuss how HR can best champion ERGs within their organizations.

HR STRATEGY

Struggling to find the motivation

Nuthawut Somsuk/Getty Images

When it comes to IT jobs, there’s a huge gap between answering help-desk tickets and helping drive the AI revolution. That gap could be the root cause of a lack of motivation among IT pros.

Compared to their peers in other industries, IT professionals are among the least motivated, according to a poll by consultancy Full Potential Group in partnership with Motivational Maps.

In a recent IT Brew poll, 29% of 541 respondents said their motivation only came in “occasional waves,” while 23% said they were consistently bored. Just 21% reported being motivated “all the time.”

For more on why these professionals are struggling with motivation at work, keep reading on IT Brew.—CN

Together With Paycor

The skills gap strikes again. This time, it’s bringing with it AI innovations, compliance changes, and tons of other issues to address. Paycor can help you solve ’em with their Top 15 HR Challenges & Issues in 2026 article. Read up for tips on updating career paths, partnering with legal experts, and more.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: The US population grew only 0.5% between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, the slowest growth since the pandemic, due to a significant decline in net migration. (Census Bureau)

Quote: “In 2020, clients frequently asked us how best to weigh in on these kinds of issues…Today, there is a greater focus on assessing the risks of engaging.”—Jim O’Leary, North America CEO and global president of Weber Shandwick, on CEOs being less likely to weigh in on political events, including ICE’s presence in Minnesota (Fast Company)

Read: A new buzzword is hitting the workplace: “friction-maxxing,” or embracing inconveniences that come up without reaching for tech solutions designed to eliminate them—like reading a full report instead of an AI summary, for example. (the Financial Times)

EVENT

No more maybes

Morning Brew Inc.

Hiring should not require a spreadsheet, a flowchart, and a group therapy session. On April 21, Daniel Chait, CEO and co-founder of Greenhouse Software, will show how to build a hiring process that works for candidates and recruiters alike. Register now.

JOBS

More focus, less fluff. CollabWORK filters out the noise and delivers jobs that actually match what HR Brew readers are looking for. Click here to see the full board of curated roles.

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Written by Courtney Vinopal, Vicky Valet, Caroline Nihill, and Paige McGlauflin

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