Empowering Sustainable Growth and Workforce: Unveiling Challenges and Strategies for Retaining Community Pharmacists in Malaysia.

Background: Community pharmacists face challenges in job retention due to compensation, work-life balance, and career growth concerns. With pharmacists' evolving roles in healthcare, retaining them becomes crucial for maintaining quality service. Addressing their needs is vital for a skilled healthcare workforce. This study evaluates job retention among community pharmacists, considering various workforce management domains and demographic characteristics.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed with a self-administered questionnaire among community pharmacists in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. Spearman's correlations and ordinal logistic regression analysed job retention relationships with workforce domains and predicted the demographic characteristics.

Results: A total of 414 participants attempted the survey, of which 311 completed the study. Strong correlations linked job retention with value, trust, and work-life balance. Female pharmacists had higher retention odds, while younger pharmacists had lower retention odds. Pharmacists with over 10 years of experience showed higher retention odds.

Discussion: 'Value and trust' and 'work-life balance' were pivotal for the job retention of community pharmacists. Strategies boosting value, trust, and work-life balance was vital. Gender, age, and experience also predicted job retention.

Conclusions: Cultivating trust, valuing contributions, and providing a work-life balance can enhance job retention and commitment.