Specsavers named Australia's Best Place to Work for 2026

Specsavers has been named Australia's Best Workplace™ for 2026 by Great Place to Work®, ranking first nationally in the large business category. 

The recognition is based on the confidential experiences and feedback from more than 7,700 support office and store team members across Australia and New Zealand, representing 78 per cent of the Specsavers workforce. 

"This achievement belongs to our people," said Paul Bott, Managing Director ANZ. 

“We listen to the thousands of support office and store team members who share valuable feedback about what it is like to work at Specsavers. We use their insights, passions and ideas to create a better workplace and shape the way we serve our customers and communities. In doing this, we’ve also significantly improved retention across our business, helping us keep talented people, create meaningful careers and develop some of the best-trained teams in the industry. 

"When people choose to stay, grow and build their careers with us, our patients benefit too. The trust we've built with patients is reflected in Australians voting Specsavers Australia’s Most Trusted Optometrists for seven consecutive years and in our recent recognition as Australia's number one brand for customer experience in the KPMG Customer Experience Excellence Report," he said.  

Karen Clancy, People Director ANZ, said employee feedback remains central to the organisation's success. 

"Our people are at the heart of every decision we make," she said. 

"Reaching the top spot is a fantastic achievement, but what matters most is creating an environment where our teams feel supported, valued and able to do their best work. Although we’ve been awarded Australia’s Best Workplace™, we will continue to listen, learn and grow, always prioritising our patients and our workforce.” 

Thank you to every support office and store team member who continues to share their voice and help make Specsavers a great place to work," she said. 

Specsavers' people-first approach includes leadership development, clinical learning pathways, wellbeing programs and inclusive workplace practices that support long-term career growth. 

The Great Place to Work® Best Workplaces™ list is based primarily on confidential employee feedback, alongside an independent assessment of workplace culture and people practices. This year's study captured insights from more than 150,000 Australian employees across organisations of all sizes and industries.