The wider UK jobs market has cooled, but demand for technical skills has not. Vacancy estimates fell by 7,000 (0.9%) to 712,000 in April to June 2026, and vacancies dropped in 10 of the 18 sectors ONS - Vacancies and jobs in the UK. Yet the picture is uneven. Earlier in the cycle, the largest volume increase in vacancies sat in professional, scientific and technical activities, up 5,000 ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025. Automation engineers live at that technical edge, and that's where plants are spending.
There are 2.5 unemployed people per vacancy, a ratio that has held steady since mid-2025 ONS - Vacancies and jobs in the UK. On paper that looks like an employer's market. In practice, the people who can commission a PLC line or integrate robotics are still hard to find, and the competition for them is fierce.
The squeeze is being driven by the same skills that AI and advanced manufacturing both need. Demand for AI skills rose nearly 200% in a year The Register (Accenture data), and controls, robotics and data-literate engineers sit right in that overlap. When a plant automates a line, it needs people who can program controllers, read sensor data and keep systems running, not just operate them.
The talent pipeline is also shifting. Apprenticeships have grown from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report, as employers build skills rather than buy them ready-made. That matters in manufacturing, where entry routes have narrowed elsewhere: Adzuna recorded a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT launched techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?, and UK tech graduate roles fell 46% in a year The Register. Plants that grow their own automation talent gain an edge.
Move fast and be specific. The best automation engineers are rarely on the market for long, so a slow process loses them. Write the job around the systems you actually run, name the controllers, the robotics and the software, and screen on evidence of commissioning and fault-finding, not just years served.
Then widen the net. With defence and advanced manufacturing supply chains expanding, MOD expenditure alone supported 272,000 direct jobs in 2023/24, an 11% rise on the year MOD supported employment estimates 2023/24 - GOV.UK, the competition for engineers reaches well beyond your own sector. Consider apprentices and cross-trained maintenance technicians, and keep a warm pipeline so you're ready when a line goes live.
When automation roles open and the clock is running, we help you reach engineers fast. We search a database of 15 million candidates to build a ranked shortlist, so you spend time on the right people rather than sifting CVs. And the cost is straightforward: Reed.ai charges 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, against the typical 15 to 25% recruitment agency fee. Start your shortlist today and see who's ready to move.
