Jan 27 (Reuters) – Walmart Inc (WMT.N) mentioned on Friday it could regulate working hours for its U.S. pharmacy workforce and implement it nationwide in 4,600 areas, with drugstore operator CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) doing the identical for about two-thirds of its retail pharmacies, amid a good labor market.

The United States has been experiencing a nationwide labor scarcity for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic which has compelled retailers to supply enticing incentives and pay will increase.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O) and CVS every raised their minimal wage to $15 per hour in 2021 whereas Walmart mentioned final 12 months it could improve the typical pay of pharmacy staff to greater than $20 per hour.

Earlier on Friday, the Wall Street Journal first reported CVS Health Corp and Walmart had been chopping pharmacy hours.

Walmart’s pharmacies can be open from 9 AM to 7 PM, Monday by way of Friday from March, whereas the weekend hours wouldn’t change, a spokesperson for the corporate mentioned. Currently, they’re open from 9 AM to 9 PM.

CVS mentioned the brand new hours of operation, which start in March, at impacted pharmacies will range, including it periodically critiques working hours to ensure peak buyer demand was being met.

The firm had 9,900 retail areas together with pharmacies, in response to a regulatory submitting in February 2022.

Walgreens mentioned in an announcement that at occasions it needed to regulate retailer or pharmacy hours at some locations after staffing challenges impacted retailers and healthcare entities, amongst others, over the past 12 months.

Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri

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