STORY: Walmart is asking some of its 16,000 pharmacists to take pay cuts by reducing their hours as the retail giant looks for ways to reduce costs.

The move, which Reuters has learned exclusively, highlights new pressures at Walmart pharmacies.

Starting last Spring, store directors began asking pharmacists, particularly those in higher wage brackets, to voluntarily reduce their base salary hours, according to a source.

Store managers were also asked to start hiring pharmacists at lower base salaries.

Walmart confirmed to Reuters that it was reducing the amount of hours it was offering some pharmacists, citing a drop-off in demand for drugs during the summer months and requests from pharmacists for a better work-life balance.

But the CEO of the American Pharmacists Association said there was no data to support the assertion that demand for medications falls during the summer... and claimed the underlying reason for scaling back pharmacists' hours is a shortage of pharmacy technicians, who perform tasks like answering phones so pharmacists can focus on filling prescriptions.

Walmart’s finances were also hit when the retailer last year agreed to pay $3.1 billion as part of the nationwide opioid settlement following allegations that it failed to regulate prescriptions of the painkillers.

Experts say the settlement includes many court-ordered compliance requirements which must be carried out by pharmacists, who have posted on social media and message boards that it adds to their workloads.