Chris Bennett: The optical workforce can’t be left to chance

Whether you like it or not your salary, the future of the profession and the success of your business is determined by the shape of the optical workforce. The College of Optometrists’ Optical Workforce Survey, comes at a time of unprecedented acceleration in the number of optometry undergraduate places.

Each new course is met with howls of disapproval, from established professionals worried about their salary levels, and whoops of delight from employers keen to secure adequate numbers of professional staff at competitive levels of pay. The College suggests there may still be an undersupply of professional staff.