Walmart also has agreed to pay $3.1 billion as its share of an opioid-related legal settlement, which is adding to its legal costs this year. For example, a pharmacist could go from an 80-hour, two-week pay period to one lasting 64 or 72 hours, said the source, who attended the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity. On average, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail chain pays its pharmacists more than $140,000 a year, excluding bonuses and incentives, according to Walmart. Earlier this year, Walmart scaled back the operating hours of its pharmacies by two hours at more than 4,500 U.S. stores, amid a shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that began during the pandemic. SHORTAGE OF PHARMACY TECHNICIANSThe underlying reason that chain drug stores like Walmart are scaling back pharmacists' hours is a shortage of pharmacy technicians, Hogue said.

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Persons: haven't, Davey Lavergne, Marilee McInnis, Michael Hogue, Hogue, Siddharth Cavale, Jonathan Oatis, Andy Sullivan Organizations: Walmart, Reuters, Dow Jones Industrial, Health, Wellness, American Pharmacists Association, Pharmacy Workforce Center, Pharmacy, Thomson Locations: Arkansas , Tennessee , Missouri , Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Bentonville , Arkansas, Washington, New York