Community pharmacists are facing an increasingly tough employment environment, with some companies reducing benefits and altering employees' terms and conditions, C+D has learned.

Industry experts warned working conditions were deteriorating for pharmacists, particularly in larger companies, while a C+D poll suggested 70 per cent of readers had seen benefits cut over the past year. The poll of 84 readers found just 19 per cent had seen their benefits such as sick pay and pensions remain stable since 2011, with only 5 per cent reporting an improvement.

"I think this is a consequence of the power that the multiples, in particular, are having over our profession" John Murphy, PDA

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Employers were increasingly looking to cut costs by reigning in benefits, confirmed the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) and income protection insurer PG Mutual. "Employers are taking measures to control costs and one of the ways they can go about it is by cutting back on benefits," PDA director John Murphy told C+D. "I think this is a consequence of the power that the multiples, in particular, are having over our profession." Mr Murphy accepted that the economic climate and tightening of NHS funding had forced employers to look at their costs. But he stressed that some companies were being "very opportunistic". "Certain employers are cutting benefits under the auspices of the financial crunch," he said.

And Mr Murphy argued that the competitive jobs market had tipped the balance in employers' favour. "The overproduction of pharmacy graduates in the UK enables them to reduce overheads and get employees to work harder, with the threat that their employment could be in jeopardy," he explained. "Some organisations are also trying to change contracts."

PG Mutual CEO Mike Perry said he had seen similar trends in the pharmacy market. "Among employers, there's a need to cut costs wherever they can," he told C+D. "Larger companies are tending to change employee contracts. If you sign a contract now, it will be completely different to a contract that you would have signed two years ago."

The comments came as preliminary results from the C+D Salary Survey 2012 suggested many pharmacists were unhappy with their salary packages – 36 per cent of employees surveyed said they were "dissatisfied" with theirs, while just 2 per cent reported being "more than satisfied".  Look out for the full results of the Salary Survey in C+D this autumn.