# Opticians, Dispensing

> Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.

- **SOC code:** 29-2081.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-2081-00
- **Also known as:** Dispensing Optician, Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO), Licensed Optician, Optician, Certified Optician, Contact Lens Technician, Ophthalmic Dispenser, Optical Technician
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
- Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
- Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
- Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
- Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
- Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
- Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
- Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
- Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
- Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
- Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general.
- Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Sales and Marketing _(knowledge)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Mathematics _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Production and Processing _(knowledge)_
- Administrative _(knowledge)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Psychology _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Compulink Eyecare Advantage
- Cygnet Infotech Optifocus
- Database software
- Diversified Ophthalmics Practice Maximus
- EMRlogic Systems ENTERPRISE Visions
- EZ-Zone Optizone Enterprise
- First Insight MaximEyes
- HealthLine Systems Eyecom

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 45th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 51st percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 42nd percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 44th percentile (Moderate) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 58th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 2.9% growth (About average); 6.8k annual openings; 79.9k → 82.2k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $46,560; 79,690 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-2081-00_