# Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians

> Cut, grind, and polish eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other precision optical elements. Assemble and mount lenses into frames or process other optical elements. Includes precision lens polishers or grinders, centerer-edgers, and lens mounters.
- **Entity Type:** role
- **Schema Version:** role.v1
- **Soc Code:** 51-9083.00
- **Summary:** Cut, grind, and polish eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other precision optical elements. Assemble and mount lenses into frames or process other optical elements. Includes precision lens polishers or grinders, centerer-edgers, and lens mounters.

## Aliases

- Lab Technician (Laboratory Technician)
- Optical Lab Technician (Optical Laboratory Technician)
- Optical Technician
- Surfacing Technician
- Edger Technician
- Finishing Lab Technician
- Lens Grinder and Polisher
- Line Operator
- Polisher
- Artificial Glass Eye Maker
- Artificial Plastic Eye Maker
- Bench Hand

## Tasks

| Text | Type | Iwa |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mount and secure lens blanks or optical lenses in holding tools or chucks of cutting, polishing, grinding, or coating machines. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.f |
| Inspect lens blanks to detect flaws, verify smoothness of surface, and ensure thickness of coating on lenses. | Core | 4.A.1.b.2.f |
| Set up machines to polish, bevel, edge, or grind lenses, flats, blanks, or other precision optical elements. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.g |
| Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments. | Core | 4.A.1.b.3.a |
| Shape lenses appropriately so that they can be inserted into frames. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.g |
| Clean finished lenses and eyeglasses, using cloths and solvents. | Core | 4.A.3.a.1.h |
| Mount, secure, and align finished lenses in frames or optical assemblies, using precision hand tools. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.ao |
| Examine prescriptions, work orders, or broken or used eyeglasses to determine specifications for lenses, contact lenses, or other optical elements. | Core | 4.A.1.a.1.b |
| Adjust lenses and frames to correct alignment. | Core | 4.A.3.b.4.f |
| Select lens blanks, molds, tools, and polishing or grinding wheels, according to production specifications. | Core | 4.A.2.b.1.j |
| Position and adjust cutting tools to specified curvature, dimensions, and depth of cut. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.f |
| Assemble eyeglass frames and attach shields, nose pads, and temple pieces, using pliers, screwdrivers, and drills. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.q |

## Emerging Tasks

| Text |
| --- |
| Tint lenses according to customer specifications. |

## Activities

| Name | Iwa |
| --- | --- |
| Repair medical or dental assistive devices. | 4.A.3.b.4.f |
| Align parts or workpieces to ensure proper assembly. | 4.A.3.a.2.ao |
| Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment. | 4.A.3.a.2.f |
| Shape glass or similar materials. | 4.A.3.a.2.g |
| Construct customized assistive medical or dental devices. | 4.A.3.a.2.q |
| Inspect finished products to locate flaws. | 4.A.1.b.2.f |
| Clean workpieces or finished products. | 4.A.3.a.1.h |
| Select production equipment according to product specifications. | 4.A.2.b.1.j |
| Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements. | 4.A.1.a.1.b |
| Polish materials, workpieces, or finished products. | 4.A.3.a.2.o |
| Operate grinding equipment. | 4.A.3.a.3.l |
| Solder parts or workpieces. | 4.A.3.a.2.ai |
| Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment. | 4.A.3.a.2.f |
| Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications. | 4.A.3.a.2.i |
| Weigh finished products. | 4.A.1.b.3.a |
| Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications. | 4.A.1.b.3.a |
| Remove workpieces from molds. | 4.A.3.a.2.an |
| Draw guide lines or markings on materials or workpieces using patterns or other references. | 4.A.3.a.2.ao |
| Immerse objects or workpieces in cleaning or coating solutions. | 4.A.3.a.2.m |
| Operate painting or coating equipment. | 4.A.3.a.3.f |

## Capabilities

| Name | Family | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Production and Processing | knowledge | 3.86 |
| Near Vision | ability | 3.75 |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | ability | 3.62 |
| Finger Dexterity | ability | 3.62 |
| Manual Dexterity | ability | 3.5 |
| Control Precision | ability | 3.5 |
| Deductive Reasoning | ability | 3.38 |
| Mechanical | knowledge | 3.35 |
| Mathematics | knowledge | 3.34 |
| Operation and Control | transferable_skill | 3.25 |
| Problem Sensitivity | ability | 3.25 |
| Operations Monitoring | transferable_skill | 3.12 |
| Quality Control Analysis | transferable_skill | 3.12 |
| Time Management | transferable_skill | 3.12 |
| Information Ordering | ability | 3.12 |
| Visualization | ability | 3.12 |
| Selective Attention | ability | 3.12 |
| Customer and Personal Service | knowledge | 3.11 |
| Reading Comprehension | essential_skill | 3 |
| Critical Thinking | essential_skill | 3 |
| Monitoring | essential_skill | 3 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | transferable_skill | 3 |
| Administration and Management | knowledge | 3 |
| Written Comprehension | ability | 3 |
| Category Flexibility | ability | 3 |
| Flexibility of Closure | ability | 3 |
| Perceptual Speed | ability | 3 |
| Rate Control | ability | 3 |
| Reaction Time | ability | 3 |
| Wrist-Finger Speed | ability | 3 |
| Visual Color Discrimination | ability | 3 |
| Speech Recognition | ability | 3 |
| English Language | knowledge | 2.96 |
| Active Listening | essential_skill | 2.88 |
| Speaking | essential_skill | 2.88 |
| Oral Comprehension | ability | 2.88 |
| Oral Expression | ability | 2.88 |
| Written Expression | ability | 2.88 |
| Inductive Reasoning | ability | 2.88 |
| Multilimb Coordination | ability | 2.88 |

## Skills

| Name | Type |
| --- | --- |
| Finger Dexterity | Common Skill |
| Deductive Reasoning | Common Skill |
| Mathematics | Common Skill |
| Visualization | Specialized Skill |
| Time Management | Common Skill |
| Information Ordering | Specialized Skill |
| Speech Recognition | Specialized Skill |
| Reading Comprehension | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Word | Common Skill |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Outlook | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Excel | Common Skill |
| Critical Thinking | Common Skill |
| English Language | Common Skill |
| Inductive Reasoning | Common Skill |
| Depth Perception | Common Skill |
| Active Listening | Common Skill |
| Writing | Common Skill |
| Active Learning | Common Skill |
| Social Perceptiveness | Common Skill |
| Equipment Selection | Specialized Skill |
| Complex Problem Solving | Common Skill |
| Learning Strategies | Specialized Skill |
| Systems Analysis | Specialized Skill |
| Instructing | Specialized Skill |
| Equipment Maintenance | Specialized Skill |
| Negotiation | Common Skill |
| Telecommunications | Specialized Skill |
| Physics | Specialized Skill |
| Chemistry | Specialized Skill |
| Psychology | Specialized Skill |
| Foreign Language | Common Skill |
| Biology | Specialized Skill |
| Geography | Specialized Skill |
| Presentation Software | Specialized Skill |
| Medical Software | Specialized Skill |
| Installation | Specialized Skill |

## Tools

| Example | Category | Hot | In Demand |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | yes | no |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | yes | no |
| SAP software | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | yes | no |
| Electronic medical record EMR software | Medical software | no | no |
| Eyeglass design software | Computer aided design CAD software | no | no |

## Work Context

| Name | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Indoors, Environmentally Controlled | 4.97 |
| Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls | 4.58 |
| Time Pressure | 4.58 |
| Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals | 4.33 |
| Importance of Being Exact or Accurate | 4.26 |
| Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams | 4.18 |
| Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions | 4.18 |
| Importance of Repeating Same Tasks | 4.14 |
| Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team | 4.06 |
| Freedom to Make Decisions | 3.99 |
| Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment | 3.9 |
| Spend Time Standing | 3.87 |
| Exposed to Contaminants | 3.84 |
| Frequency of Decision Making | 3.73 |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results | 3.56 |
| Telephone Conversations | 3.53 |
| Physical Proximity | 3.53 |
| Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People | 3.48 |
| Exposed to Sounds, Noise Levels that are Distracting or Uncomfortable | 3.48 |
| Contact With Others | 3.4 |
| Deal With External Customers or the Public in General | 3.31 |
| Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities | 3.22 |
| Spend Time Walking or Running | 3.22 |
| Degree of Automation | 3.18 |
| Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers | 3.03 |
| E-Mail | 2.82 |
| Conflict Situations | 2.82 |
| Exposed to Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites, or Stings | 2.81 |
| Health and Safety of Other Workers | 2.69 |
| Level of Competition | 2.64 |
| Spend Time Bending or Twisting Your Body | 2.47 |
| Written Letters and Memos | 2.34 |
| Exposed to Disease or Infections | 2.16 |
| Spend Time Sitting | 2.13 |
| Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling | 2.12 |
| Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets | 2.12 |
| Exposed to Hazardous Equipment | 2.07 |
| Consequence of Error | 2 |
| Spend Time Keeping or Regaining Balance | 1.69 |
| Exposed to Cramped Work Space, Awkward Positions | 1.63 |

## Preparation

- **Job Zone:** 2
- **Job Zone Name:** Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- **Education:** Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- **Experience:** Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- **Svp Range:** (Below 6.0)

### Education Distribution

| Label | Percentage |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 56.4 |
| Some College Courses | 14.58 |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 8.82 |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 6.54 |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 4.83 |
| Bachelor's Degree | 3.73 |
| Master's Degree | 3.66 |
| First Professional Degree | 1.43 |

## Person Fit

| Name | Family | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Realistic | career_interest_type | 6.37 |
| Conventional | career_interest_type | 4.13 |
| Mechanics/Electronics | specific_interest_area | 3.99 |
| Physical/Manual Labor | specific_interest_area | 3.38 |
| Attention to Detail | work_style | 3 |
| Engineering | specific_interest_area | 2.95 |
| Investigative | career_interest_type | 2.87 |
| Construction/Woodwork | specific_interest_area | 2.29 |
| Dependability | work_style | 2.25 |
| Cautiousness | work_style | 1.99 |
| Mathematics/Statistics | specific_interest_area | 1.97 |
| Social | career_interest_type | 1.9 |
| Health Care Service | specific_interest_area | 1.73 |
| Artistic | career_interest_type | 1.7 |
| Physical Science | specific_interest_area | 1.66 |
| Medical Science | specific_interest_area | 1.51 |

## Related Roles

| Soc Code | Slug | Title | Tier |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 51-9022.00 | role-51-9022-00 | Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand | Primary-Short |
| 51-4033.00 | role-51-4033-00 | Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | Primary-Short |
| 51-4194.00 | role-51-4194-00 | Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners | Primary-Short |
| 51-2061.00 | role-51-2061-00 | Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters | Primary-Short |
| 49-9061.00 | role-49-9061-00 | Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers | Primary-Short |
| 51-4035.00 | role-51-4035-00 | Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | Primary-Long |
| 51-9195.00 | role-51-9195-00 | Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic | Primary-Long |
| 51-4122.00 | role-51-4122-00 | Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | Primary-Long |
| 51-4081.00 | role-51-4081-00 | Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | Primary-Long |
| 51-4034.00 | role-51-4034-00 | Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | Primary-Long |
| 29-2081.00 | role-29-2081-00 | Opticians, Dispensing | Supplemental |
| 51-9032.00 | role-51-9032-00 | Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | Supplemental |

## Career Clusters

| Cluster | Slug |
| --- | --- |
| Healthcare & Human Services | healthcare-human-services |

## Education Level

- **Category:** High school diploma or equivalent

## Study Programs

| Title | Slug |
| --- | --- |
| Health Professions and Related Programs | health-professions-and-related-programs |

## Market

- **Median Wage:** 38420
- **Mean Wage:** 41760
- **Pct10Wage:** 31250
- **Pct25Wage:** 35580
- **Pct75Wage:** 45410
- **Pct90Wage:** 55480
- **Employment:** 18740
- **Area Title:** U.S.

## Industries


### Top

| Naics | Slug | Title | Level | Employment | Median Wage | Lq |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 31-33 | 31-33 | Manufacturing | Sector | 7780 | 40800 | 5.02 |
| 62 | 62 | Health Care and Social Assistance | Sector | 4750 | 38370 | 1.69 |
| 44-45 | 44-45 | Retail Trade | Sector | 3940 | 35970 | 2.08 |
| 621320 | 621320 | Offices of Optometrists | National industry | 2590 | 37660 | 139.7 |
| 42 | 42 | Wholesale Trade | Sector | 1800 | 37770 | 2.45 |
| 56 | 56 | Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | Sector |  | 40040 |  |
| 561320 | 561320 | Temporary Help Services | National industry |  | 40040 |  |

### Concentrated

| Naics | Slug | Title | Level | Employment | Lq |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 621320 | 621320 | Offices of Optometrists | National industry | 2590 | 139.7 |
| 31-33 | 31-33 | Manufacturing | Sector | 7780 | 5.02 |
| 42 | 42 | Wholesale Trade | Sector | 1800 | 2.45 |
| 44-45 | 44-45 | Retail Trade | Sector | 3940 | 2.08 |
| 62 | 62 | Health Care and Social Assistance | Sector | 4750 | 1.69 |
- **Count:** 7

## Ai Signals

| Source | Label | Score | Scale | Release |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| frey_osborne | Computerization probability | 0.97 | 0-1 probability | 2013-baseline-2016-employment-snapshot |
| felten_aioe | AI occupational exposure | -0.5966759 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |
| felten_image_generation_aioe | Image generation occupational exposure | 0.0859581 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |
| felten_language_modeling_aioe | Language modeling occupational exposure | -0.9183928 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |

## Ai Outlook


### Index

- **Value:** 24
- **Percentile:** 22
- **Band:** Low
- **Version:** ai-exposure-index-v1

#### Components

| Percentile | Source |
| --- | --- |
| 32 | felten_aioe |
| 24 | openai_gpts_are_gpts |
| 15 | microsoft_working_with_ai |
- **Component Count:** 3

### Exposure

| Source | Label | Value | Percentile | Band | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| felten_aioe | Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) | -0.5966759 | 32 | Low | How much this job's abilities overlap with what AI systems can do, across many AI capabilities. A relative research score, not a forecast of job loss. |
| eloundou_gamma | LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) | 0.1875 | 24 | Low | Share of this job's tasks where a large language model plus simple tools could cut the time to do them by at least half. γ is capped at 1.0 and many jobs reach that ceiling, so treat a top score as 'in the top group', not a precise rank. |
| microsoft_applicability | AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) | 0.06196186193371751 | 15 | Low | How applicable today's AI assistants are to this job's activities, measured from real Microsoft Copilot conversations. Applicability is not the same as replacement. |

### Frey Historical

- **Source:** frey
- **Label:** Computerization probability (Frey & Osborne, 2013)
- **Value:** 0.97
- **Percentile:** 94
- **Band:** High
- **Note:** A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
- **Teleworkable:** yes

### Eloundou

- **Alpha:** 0
- **Beta:** 0.09375
- **Gamma:** 0.1875

### Usage Tasks

| Task | Usage Percent | Importance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments. | 0.005546220558812534 | 4.69 |
- **Usage Release:** 2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2

### Bls

- **Growth Percent:** 2.3
- **Growth Percentile:** 44
- **Direction:** About average
- **Annual Openings Thousands:** 2.4
- **Annual Openings Percentile:** 31
- **Employment2024Thousands:** 19.6
- **Employment2034Thousands:** 20

### Sources

| Source | Version |
| --- | --- |
| bls_employment_projections | 2024-2034 |
| dingel_neiman | dingel-neiman-workathome |
| felten_aioe | felten-raj-seamans-aioe |
| frey_osborne | frey-osborne-automation |
| microsoft_working_with_ai | working-with-ai |
| openai_gpts_are_gpts | gpts-are-gpts |

## Counts

- **Tasks:** 18
- **Skills:** 37
- **Capabilities:** 120
- **Tools:** 8
- **Related Roles:** 20

## Source

- **Dataset:** gold.onet_role_starter_surface
- **Version:** 30.3
- **Generated At:** 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00
- **Content Hash:** ba00b71fcddcb8d3