Demand is real and the gap is wide. 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. Manufacturers rank skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) as their top barriers to growth Barclays Corporate – Skills shortage in UK Manufacturing.
The outlook points the same way. 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). For anyone hiring, or anyone weighing a move into the sector, that combination of open roles today and sustained demand tomorrow builds a clear career case.
Battery production, electrification and automation are pulling the same skills. Engineering sits at the centre: 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Government analysis agrees, naming digital and engineering occupations among those with the greatest additional employment demand between 2025 and 2030 GOV.UK - Assessment of priority skills to 2030 (Skills England).
The work itself is changing. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cite automation and half (50%) cite wider digitalisation as trends changing jobs and skills needs, and 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030 Make UK – 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap. Yet the UK ranks just 24th in global robotics density Making it Smarter: Global Lessons for Accelerating Automation and Digital Adoption in UK Manufacturing - Make UK, and used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020 Smart Machines Strategy 2035 - GOV.UK. Closing that gap needs people who can install, run and maintain new lines.
Start with the skills, not the job title. 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. So write specs around the capabilities you actually need, and stay open to people who can learn fast rather than tick every box.
Move quickly, because you are hiring in a crowded market. 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. A slow process loses good people. Shorten your steps, give clear feedback, and sell the long-term story: the same investment that could add £150 billion to the UK's GDP by 2035 is the investment funding these careers Making it Smarter: Global Lessons for Accelerating Automation and Digital Adoption in UK Manufacturing - Make UK.
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