Workplace Guide: A changing landscape

While the optical profession has settled in its post-Covid approach to delivering eye care, new challenges have emerged such as the cost of living crisis due to rising energy and fuel prices. Patients are likely to be considering ways of saving money and how this will affect optical practices remains to be seen.

Change is afoot within the profession too as the General Optical Council considers the industry’s responses to a call for evidence on the Opticians Act. Practitioners are waiting to see how this feedback informs the future of the profession. In Optician’s annual online salary and workforce survey, respondents were divided about the future of the profession, with 35% (513) who said they felt neutral about it, while 35% (503) were pessimistic and 30% (442) were optimistic.

In August, 1,379 eye care professionals (ECPs) and optical sector employees completed Optician’s survey, which covered topics such as job roles, remuneration, relocation and wellbeing. Of respondents, 57% (953) were female and 41% (682) were male. There were two respondents who identified as non-binary and 19 who preferred not to say.