The bulk of new and existing job seekers want entry-level opportunities, upward mobility, job security, flexible scheduling, and the ability to relocate. This is a tall order, but large, national brands with a widespread network of locations, a clear corporate structure, and an established customer base tend to meet these criteria better than startups and local businesses.
Walgreens, America’s second-largest pharmacy and convenience chain, certainly falls into this category. It’s a household name and a relatively prolific employer, with almost a quarter-million employees across nearly 9,000 stores in all 50 U.S. states — and it’s been around since 1901. So, its stores are unlikely to fold any time soon.
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Walgreens retail stores include in-house pharmacies and photo services departments alongside aisles of wellness products, food, and household essentials. So, several different types of positions may be available at a single store, and an employee who begins as a general customer service associate may have the opportunity to cross-train and apply for more specific positions later on.
Whether you’re looking to help the fast-pharmacy brand build a “big global footprint” or a “strong local heartbeat,” you’ll want to know what types of positions Walgreens offers, how much they pay, and how to land a job at the more-than-century-old neighborhood apothecary chain.
How much does Walgreens pay entry-level employees?
Walgreens offers three main types of entry-level positions: customer service associates, who work in the company’s retail stores; warehouse employees, who work behind the scenes processing merchandise orders; and fulfillment specialists, who process pharmacy orders. A candidate can be hired for any of these three jobs without experience, although relevant experience may provide a leg up and can result in higher starting pay within the advertised range.
The pay ranges in the following sections are sourced from 2024 job listings on Walgreens’ careers site.
Customer service associate/cashier: $15–$23/hr
Customer service associates are Walgreens’ front-line workers. These associates check customers out at the stores’ cash registers, but they are also responsible for greeting customers, maintaining displays, cleaning and organizing, answering questions, and recommending products based on their working knowledge of the store and its inventory.
Starting pay (hourly)
Walgreens starts all customer service associates at a minimum of $15 per hour in all of its stores. In most locations, if no state or local minimum wage exists, all customer service associate positions offer a starting range of $15–$17.50 per hour.
Below are just a few examples of areas where CSAs can earn higher starting wages due to state and local minimum wages:
- Los Angeles, CA: $16.90–$18
- San Francisco, CA: $18.07–$20
- Denver, CO: $18.29–$20
- New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, NY: $16–$18
- Seattle, WA: $20–$23
Schedule
Customer service associates can work full-time or part-time, but most end up working some evening and weekend shifts, especially when they are newly hired.
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General warehouse person: $17.24–$24.60/hr
General warehouse persons, as they are titled by Walgreens, are essentially shipping, receiving, and distribution workers. They organize, pick, pack, scan, and ship merchandise to fulfill customer orders and take care of other tasks as necessary. Shifts may be 8 or 10 hours in length, are largely physical, and involve standing for long periods of time and lifting and moving merchandise, sometimes operating machinery to do so.
Starting pay (hourly)
The starting pay ranges listed for open general warehouse person jobs as of this article’s last update varied based on location within an overall range of $17.24–$24.60 per hour, with higher starting pay ranges in states and cities with higher local minimum wages.
Schedule
Most general warehouse jobs are full-time, although part-time positions do exist. Most warehouse workers are expected to work night shifts, and weekend shifts are common as well.
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Fulfillment specialist: $15–$19.50/hr
Fulfillment specialists at Walgreens are responsible for processing and shipping customer prescription orders. In this role, specialists pick, scan, pack, and ship large volumes of customer orders while tracking inventory via computer.
Starting pay (hourly)
Starting pay for fulfillment associates ranges from $15 to $19.50 per hour, depending on location and experience.
Schedule
Full-time fulfillment associates usually work eight-hour shifts five days per week with two back-to-back days off. The three shifts for this position are usually 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (first shift), 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (second shift), and 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. (third shift).
Does Walgreens offer remote jobs?
Like many modern companies, Walgreens has its share of remote positions that can be done from home, but the bulk of these are far from entry-level and require highly specific qualifications.
For instance, a remote clinical trial manager can earn between $89,010 and $148,200 annually before bonuses, but applicants must have a master’s or bachelor’s degree and years of experience in science and clinical trial-related sales and marketing.
A remote regional account executive can earn even more — between $128,730 and $206,010 annually — but must have a degree and seven years of experience in pharmaceutical, healthcare, and medical equipment sales.
Remote call center specialist
Walgreens does have some entry-level remote positions in its call centers, although these don’t become available particularly often. They are only open to residents of certain states and require a reliable high-speed home internet connection. Applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent, be comfortable using computers and search engines, and be able to type relatively quickly.
Remote call center specialists deal with customers, vendors, and doctors’ offices to log and track inquiries and solve problems over the phone.
These positions start at between $15 and $19.50 per hour and come with typical benefits like paid time off (PTO), employer-sponsored insurance plans, employee discounts, and financial benefits. More details can be found on this archived snapshot of a listing for an open remote call center position in 2024.
(Photo Illustration by Igor Golovnov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Walgreens employee benefits explained
Walgreens offers a fairly robust suite of employee benefits, including all of the usual suspects. Here are the highlights:
Health and wellness
Employees who work 30 or more hours per week are eligible to choose from a tiered list of employer-sponsored medical, dental, and vision insurance plans from multiple providers. Prescriptions can be filled at discounted prices at the company’s own store pharmacies, and health savings account (HSA) plans are also available
Hourly employees receive a $25,000 life insurance policy, while salaried employees receive a policy that pays out 1.5 times their annual base earnings.
Time off and leave
All employees accrue paid time off (PTO) based on hours worked, and accrual rates increase with tenure. The company recognizes six paid holidays (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day) and also offers bereavement, new parent, and disability leave.
Employee discount
All Walgreens employees also receive an employee discount — 25% off all brands owned by the company (including Well at Walgreens, No7, Nice!, Boots, Duane Reade, Benavides, and Ahumada) and 15% off all national brands. The employee discount does not apply to prescriptions, shipping fees, or photo services.
Financial benefits
All employees are eligible to contribute to an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement savings account, and, after one year of employment plus 1,000 hours worked, the company matches employee contributions up to 4% of each paycheck, which is a fairly high matching percentage for the retail industry. An employee stock purchase plan is also available for workers interested in building an equity position in Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) , the corporate parent.
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How to apply for (and get) a job at Walgreens
In order to be considered for an entry-level position at Walgreens, you must be at least 16 years old and have the legal right to work in the United States. And while it may not be necessary in every case, a high school diploma or GED is usually required.
Once you are ready to apply, the best way to begin is to visit Walgreens' careers site then select the “Search by location” feature. Here, you can search for specific jobs at stores in your area.
If you want to apply to be a customer service associate and you live in or around Denver, for instance, type customer service into the “Keywords” field, type Denver, CO into the “Location” field, and set your search radius to 35 miles. Click the “Search” button, and you’ll see a list of open positions that meet your criteria.
All positions posted on Walgreens’ careers site list their starting pay ranges, a job description, and a list of required and preferred qualifications. Once you’ve identified one or more positions you are interested in, you can apply to them by signing up for an account on Walgreens’ careers site (using your email and a password) and then filling out an online application for each job individually.
Once you’ve applied for one or more positions, it can be a good idea to visit the store(s) you applied to work at and introduce yourself to a supervisor or manager so they can put a face to your application.
Next, study the preferred qualifications listed on the job postings you applied for, and come up with anecdotes from past jobs, volunteer positions, or projects that demonstrate your aptitude in the areas highlighted in the job posting. Have this information prepared when you are invited to interview.
When it’s time to interview, wear a clean, plain, semi-formal outfit (i.e., business casual), make plenty of eye contact with your interviewer, and answer questions candidly, being sure to highlight some of your relevant skills, qualifications, or experience in the process. Once the interviewer has finished with their questions, it is always a good idea to ask a few of your own to demonstrate your interest in the job and workplace.
For additional tips and to learn more about what it’s like to work at Walgreens, you can visit the r/walgreensstores subreddit (a moderated community of current and former Walgreens employees and customers) and ask for application and interview advice pertaining to specific positions, stores, and locations.
