ECONOMY

Drugstores hire more staff on extended hours

Drugstores hire more staff on extended hours

Despite the upheaval the pharmaceutical industry in Greece has been experiencing during the economic crisis, there has been an unexpected increase in employment at pharmacies, according to the staff registered at the Pharmaceutical Employees Mutual Assistance Fund (TAYFE).

While the drugmaking sector has seen jobs drying up and turnover at pharmacies has declined considerably, a small “reform” imposed by the country’s creditors and implemented by pharmacies – in the form of extended opening hours – has resulted in an increase in employment figures, despite the strong reaction the measure had originally generated in the sector.

In total the number of jobs in the pharmaceutical sector amounted to 24,486 in 2009 and dropped to 21,725 last year, a drop of 11.23 percent in seven years. The drug industries saw 23.52 percent of their jobs wiped out and employment at drugstore warehouses declined 6.62 percent in that period, but pharmacies saw their employee figures grow a remarkable 6.42 percent, or 542 jobs across Greece.

In 2016 the vast majority of hirings in the pharmaceutical sector were in drug retailing (pharmacies), amounting to 63.71 percent. That was up by 18.52 percent on the figures for 2009. In total, pharmacies employed 8,675 people at end-2016, accounting for 39.91 percent of all professionals in the pharmaceutical sector.
 

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