How to become an optical technician

Official title: Optical technician

Also called: Optical laboratory technician, Contact lens technician, Ophthalmic laboratory technician, Optical mechanic, Optical glass grinder, Optical instrument maker and repairer

Optical technicians use specialised equipment to cut, grind and polish lenses for prescription glasses, contact lenses and other optical aids.

Main tasks

• Shape lenses
• Use optical equipment
• Align parts to assemble glasses
• Measure lenses
• Inspect finished lenses for quality
• Clean lenses and finished products
• Repair glasses and optical devices
• Read work orders for lens requirements

How to become one

You usually learn on the job to become a optical technician and a qualification or experience may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: a Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing New Zealand through the Australasian College of Optical Dispensing; experience in similar work.

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Pay · Past change · AI and this job

• Most common pay: $55,000 to $76,000 a year (median $63,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
• Upper: $107,000 a year
• TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
• Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• About 120 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
• In the group Other Miscellaneous Technicians and Trades Workers, 24% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
• Where people in the group Other Miscellaneous Technicians and Trades Workers work (2023 Census): Auckland 33.3%, Canterbury 14%, and Waikato 11.3%.

Related jobs

• Dispensing optician
• Wool classer
• Diver

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Questions people ask

How do I become an optical technician?

You usually learn on the job to become a optical technician and a qualification or experience may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: a Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing New Zealand through the Australasian College of Optical Dispensing; experience in similar work.

How much does an optical technician earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $63,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $55,000 to $76,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as an optical technician grown in New Zealand?

It has grown: TEC records an increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an optical technician?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026