Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians
In the ILO's assessment few of the job's tasks can be done by generative AI, or the scores are too spread out to reach gradient 1 — generative AI does not meaningfully take over the core of the work.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Prescribing corrective eyeglasses, contact lenses and other vision aids, and checking optical devices for performance, safety, comfort and lifestyle36
- Consulting with and referring patients to ophthalmologists or other health professionals if additional medical treatment is necessary27
- Testing visual function using specialized instruments and equipment for measuring visual acuity and refractive error, function of visual pathways, visual fields, eye movements, freedom of vision and intraocular pressure26
- Advising on visual health matters such as contact lens care, vision care for the elderly, optics, visual ergonomics, and occupational and industrial eye safety.23
- Detecting, diagnosing and managing eye disease, including prescribing medications for the treatment of eye disease22
- Detecting and diagnosing eye movement disorders and defects of binocular function, and planning and managing treatment programmes, including counselling patients in eye exercises to coordinate movement and focusing of eyes19
- Examining patients’ eyes and conducting diagnostic tests to assess ocular health and determine the nature and extent of vision problems and abnormalities15
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Prescribing corrective eyeglasses, contact lenses and other vision aids, and checking optical devices for performance, safety, comfort and lifestyle(36)
- Consulting with and referring patients to ophthalmologists or other health professionals if additional medical treatment is necessary(27)
- Testing visual function using specialized instruments and equipment for measuring visual acuity and refractive error, function of visual pathways, visual fields, eye movements, freedom of vision and intraocular pressure(26)
- Advising on visual health matters such as contact lens care, vision care for the elderly, optics, visual ergonomics, and occupational and industrial eye safety.(23)
- Detecting, diagnosing and managing eye disease, including prescribing medications for the treatment of eye disease(22)
- Detecting and diagnosing eye movement disorders and defects of binocular function, and planning and managing treatment programmes, including counselling patients in eye exercises to coordinate movement and focusing of eyes(19)
- Examining patients’ eyes and conducting diagnostic tests to assess ocular health and determine the nature and extent of vision problems and abnormalities(15)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 24.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Prescribing corrective eyeglasses, contact lenses and other vision aids, and checking optical devices for performance, safety, comfort and lifestyle
- • Consulting with and referring patients to ophthalmologists or other health professionals if additional medical treatment is necessary
- • Examining patients‚Äô eyes and conducting diagnostic tests to assess ocular health and determine the nature and extent of vision problems and abnormalities
- • Detecting and diagnosing eye movement disorders and defects of binocular function, and planning and managing treatment programmes, including counselling patients in eye exercises to coordinate movement and focusing of eyes
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Health professionals group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Health professionals |
|---|---|
| Norway | 6.1% · 178 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 5.3% · 276 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 5.1% · 246 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 5.0% · 155 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 5.0% · 141 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 4.8% · 248 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 4.5% · 1,529 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 4.2% · 416 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 4.2% · 188 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 4.2% · 218 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 4.1% · 60 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 3.8% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 3.8% · 838 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 3.7% · 161 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 3.6% · 614 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 3.5% · 12 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 3.5% · 18 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 3.2% · 938 thousand · 2025 |
| Luxembourg | 3.1% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 3.1% · 237 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 3.0% · 88 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 3.0% · 21 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 2.9% · 29 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 2.9% · 150 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.8% · 25 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 2.7% · 1,149 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 2.4% · 41 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 1.9% · 88 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 1.7% · 45 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 1.7% · 45 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 1.6% · 395 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Professionals). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland6,389
- Luxembourg5,274
- Ireland4,873
- Germany4,807
- Belgium4,799
- Denmark4,446
- Norway4,237
- Austria4,099
- Netherlands4,031
- Iceland3,875
- EU273,850
- France3,791
- Finland3,769
- Romania3,559
- Sweden3,416
- Spain3,413
- Slovenia3,326
- Italy3,305
- Cyprus3,271
- Lithuania3,221
- Croatia2,890
- Czechia2,871
- Malta2,825
- Poland2,783
- Hungary2,777
- Portugal2,755
- Latvia2,671
- Estonia2,599
- Bulgaria2,359
- Slovakia2,345
- Greece2,321
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Health professionals group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?