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.
Optometrists accounted for 51% (837) of the survey’s participants, ahead of dispensing opticians (22%, 357), contact lens opticians (7%, 110) and optical assistants (5%, 82).
Respondents also included business owners (6%), practice managers (4%), other non-GOC registered positions (3%), optical technicians (2%), other practice staff members (1%) and sales agents (1%).
Survey respondents were evenly split across the UK while 5% said they were based overseas, including the US (54 respondents), Ireland (25), Italy (21), Spain (16), India (10) and Ukraine (10).
In England, 213 respondents (13%) were based in London, followed by 196 (12%) in the South East, 171 (10%) in the North West and 166 (10%) in the South West.
Practitioners responded from the West Midlands (8%), Yorkshire and the Humber (6%), East Midlands (6%) and the North East (4%). There were also 150 (9%) practitioners in Scotland, 73 (4%) in Wales and 52 (3%) in Northern Ireland who responded.
Most respondents worked at a national optical chain (40%, 660) or an independent optical practice (33%, 541). A total of 145 (9%) locum ECPs responded, while other settings included hospital (5%), regional chain (4%) and domiciliary (2%). The remainder were employed at a manufacturer or distributor, educational establishment or professional association.
Salary and satisfaction
When asked about salary, the band chosen by most respondents across all job roles was £30,000-£39,999 with 20% (325) selecting this option. This was closely followed by £20,000-£29,999, which was chosen by 320 (19%) respondents. There were 243 and 241 respondents, respectively, who earned £40,000-£49,999 or £50,000-£59,999, which jointly represented a total of 30% of respondents.
The next largest salary band was £60,000-£69,000, which 8% of respondents earned, followed by £80,000+ (7%), £15,000-£19,999 (6%), less than £10,000 (5%), £10,000-£14,999 (3%), £70,000-£79,999 (2%) and 2% preferred not to say.
More than half of practitioners believed their salary would stay the same (61%) in the next year, while 25% thought it would slowly increase and 3% thought it would increase in line with pre-pandemic figures. There were 11% who thought their salary would go down in the next year.
Satisfaction was high among practitioners with 49% satisfied or very satisfied in their current role. There were 29% who felt neutral, while 23% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
The majority of respondents felt secure in their current role with 31% who were relaxed and 18% very relaxed, while 28% felt neutral. However, 23% were concerned or very concerned.
Considering options
There were 420 (26%) practitioners who had changed role in the last year and 316 (20%) who had moved employer. The majority (74%) had not changed role or moved employer in the past 12 months (80%). However, 62% (976) said yes when asked if the last year changed their mindset on their career with 38% (593) who said no. 60% (943) had considered finding a new job in the past year and 40% (622) said they had not.
When looking for work, practitioners found it easy (332, 22%) or very easy (212, 14%) to find a suitable role while others found it difficult (278, 18%) or very difficult (110, 7%). The majority felt neutral (593, 39%) when asked how easy it had been to find a suitable role.
More than half of respondents (55%, 863) admitted that they had considered alternative career paths in or outside of optics in the last year, while 702 (45%) said they hadn’t. Professional services (41%) was the career option in optics that appealed the most, followed by sales (11%), research (10%), product development (10%) and university lecturer (9%).
When asked to rank six factors of importance when looking for a job, providing high levels of clinical care came first, followed by location, remuneration, flexible working, company reputation and outlook, and training opportunities.
Currently, 9% (134) travelled less than a mile to work and 27% (407) travelled one to five miles, which was the most popular response. Longer distances scored similarly at 21% (320) for six to 10 miles, 21% (316) for 11 to 20 miles, and 15% (232) travelled 21 to 50 miles. Only 6% (93) travelled more than 60 miles.
When asked what the most important factor in determining where respondents worked, the most popular response was ‘I work close to where I grew up’ (21%), while 17% moved for a better salary and 15% were drawn to the local area. ‘I work close to where my partner lives’ and ‘I work where there are lots of career opportunities’ were both selected by 11%, respectively, with 8% working close to where they qualified.
An improved salary would prompt 529 (35%) of respondents to move to another part of the country, while 475 (32%) would move if a family member moved and 31% (466) would not move under any circumstances. Only 25% (378) would move for better career prospects.
Career progression
When respondents were asked if they had considered additional qualifications, 63% (1,024) said yes and 37% (605) said no. Medical retina was the qualification that appealed the most and was selected by 39% (560), followed by glaucoma (34%), therapeutics (33%), contact lenses (28%), low vision (24%) and paediatric eye care (23%).
Practitioners were more interested in development and career progression than not, with 54% interested or very interested and 17% uninterested or very uninterested. 28% felt neutral about development and career progression.
There were 797 (55%) respondents who had considered practice ownership while 660 (45%) had not. Of those who had, 40% considered a joint venture partnership, 31% thought about sole ownership and 29% contemplated an independent partner. However, the majority said they were happy with their current career (47%) when asked what had prevented them from becoming a practice owner. Financial risk (26%), obtaining finance (11%), the current state of the market (11%) and existing competition in the area (5%) were the other reasons that had impacted the decision to not become a practice owner.
Practitioner wellbeing
A significant percentage of the optical profession are not maintaining a healthy work-life balance, suggesting employers need to do more to support their workforce. Practitioners largely felt that they did maintain a healthy work-life balance (64%) but 36% thought they did not. Furthermore, 54% believed their employer supported their mental wellbeing while 46% said their employer did not.
More annual leave (33%) was the most selected as a way to improve the work-life balance of ECPs. This was followed by flexible hours (31%), less pressure to meet targets (19%) and longer testing times (17%).
When asked how practitioners would most like to be recognised by their employer, 43% chose bonus days off based on performance or for birthdays. Scoring similarly were incentive schemes for staff (16%) and loyalty rewards, such as vouchers for longevity in role (15%), followed by practice social events (8%) and team building days (6%).