Assessing the Alignment Between Pharmacists' Reported Tasks and Employer-Advertised Skills

Objective: This study examined the alignment between and changes within the tasks performed by pharmacists and skills sought by pharmacist employers from 2012 to 2022.

Methods: The United States Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network (O*NET) surveys a random sample of employees in targeted occupations every 5 years and provides a publicly available database allowing exploration of the frequency with which essential tasks are performed and perceived relevance and importance. Lightcast (formerly Burning Glass) provides labor market analytics of job advertisements; cross-sectional and longitudinal data can be filtered according to occupation, industry, location, and area of specialty. A crosswalk was developed between the top 20 most frequently performed pharmacist tasks (O*NET) and the most frequently-advertised skills by employers for pharmacist positions (Lightcast).

Results: The 5 most frequently performed pharmacist tasks changed minimally over the period, including prescription review and drug information and advice. There was a consistent upward trend in the frequency of interprofessional collaborations and informatics and a downward trend in compounding. Advertised skills fluctuated over the period, with business and management skills most desired. There was a decline in sought-after experience in specific health care settings and some fundamental clinical skills. Emerging skills pertained to patient care, such as vaccination, allergies, diabetes, and wellness.

Conclusion: The fact that prescription review remains the top task from O*NET over the past 10 years and the top advertised skill in Lightcast is patient care underscores the contemporary misalignment and highlights a potential discrepancy in the emphasis of pharmacy education.