The picture is one of strong demand meeting a stubborn supply problem. In 2025 there were 55,000 unfilled long-term vacancies in UK manufacturing, costing the economy £6bn in lost output every year Make UK – Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025. That gap is the single biggest brake on growth.
Manufacturers are clear about what holds them back. Their top barriers to growth are skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) Barclays Corporate – Skills shortage in UK Manufacturing. In other words, finding and keeping the right people is now the defining challenge for the sector.
The wider demand signal is only getting louder. Demand for key occupations will grow by nearly 25% in the next decade, with 1.8 million new priority jobs expected by 2035 GOV.UK - Landmark report sets out action to address key skills gaps (Skills England). Manufacturing sits right at the heart of that growth story.
Automation and digitalisation are reshaping the shop floor. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as trends changing jobs and skills needs, while 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030 Make UK – 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap. The roles of the next decade blend technical know-how with problem solving and adaptability.
Digital and engineering occupations lead the demand. Occupations in Digital, Adult Social Care, Construction and Engineering have the greatest additional employment demand between 2025 and 2030 GOV.UK - Assessment of priority skills to 2030 (Skills England), and digital, engineering and construction occupations appear most commonly among priority occupations, many already experiencing high recruitment demand and expected to keep growing strongly GOV.UK - Skills England annual skills report 2026.
There is real headroom for this shift. The UK ranks just 24th in global robotics density, and targeted innovation and digital investment could add £150 billion to the UK's GDP by 2035 Making it Smarter: Global Lessons for Accelerating Automation and Digital Adoption in UK Manufacturing - Make UK. For context, the UK was using only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020 Smart Machines Strategy 2035 - GOV.UK. Closing that gap creates roles in robotics, controls, data and maintenance.
The barrier is people, not machines. Over 50% of manufacturers cite skills shortages as the main barrier to AI adoption, and only 2% say AI is widely embedded across their operations The Manufacturer / Make UK – AI, Skills and the Future of UK Manufacturing. The firms that build the talent first will capture the productivity gains first.
Start with workforce planning, not vacancy firefighting. Automation changes what you need from people, so map the skills your lines will need in three to five years and hire towards that, not just today's gap. Many employers are already doing this: 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, a figure that increases for firms with more than 1,000 employees Make UK Executive Survey 2026.
Hire for potential alongside experience. With cognitive and adaptability skills in rising demand, someone who can learn new systems quickly is often worth more than a perfect match on yesterday's kit. Widen your talent pool, write role descriptions around outcomes and skills rather than exact job titles, and move fast when you find the right person, because strong candidates in digital and engineering do not stay on the market long.
When you know the roles you need for the next decade, the right partner helps you fill them. We search a database of 15 million candidates to surface and rank people who match your manufacturing role, then manage the process end to end, from shortlist to interview. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. It is built around one thing, finding you the right person. Ready to plan your 2035 workforce? Talk to Reed.ai today.
