The optical sector has remained largely unaffected by the recessionary conditions on the high street, according to organisers of Optrafair, Britain’s largest optical exposition.
A spokesman for the Birmingham based show claimed that there were plenty of openings at all levels despite the current difficult trading climate.
Leading specialist health recruitment agencies with a presence at April’s show, were looking to sign up optical staff at all levels and, according to Optician online, despite lower visitor numbers it was business as usual for recruiters, with a large number of quality candidates dropping in for informal advice or taking things further by formally registering their interest in making a career change.
Many visitors flocked to the Open Recruitment Group stand, where consultant Nicki Clarke, claimed an impressive response for positions in New Zealand and Australia, which were primarily for optometrists and dispensing opticians.
“Specsavers is one of our clients and there has definitely been an increase in the number of opticians and dispensing opticians who want to find out more about working abroad. Australia has been particularly popular.” Nicki told Optician.
This year’s Optrafair saw the debut presence for Tesco Opticians (part of the giant supermarket chain) whose main aim was to raise awareness about career opportunities.
Russ Elmore, a regional opticians’ manager with the company, told Optician: “We are here to raise the profile of the company in the optical sector. We doubled the number of stores we had last year to over 100 and there is continuous growth planned for 2009. Optometrists, dispensing opticians and managers have all expressed an interest in working for the company. We’ve got some long-term plans ahead of us and we need people to realise those.”
According to Elmore, “Tesco had a lot to offer to successful candidates, including the benefits of working for a household name such as Tesco.
“With our current expansion plans we will be looking to recruit optical professionals from all parts of the country,” he said.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column]