Demand for engineering talent is strong and supply is tight. In 2025 there were 55,000 unfilled long-term vacancies in UK manufacturing, costing the economy £6bn in lost output every year, according to Make UK's Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025. Those gaps are not abstract. Each open role slows production, delays projects and limits the capacity a new automation centre needs to run at full tilt.
Employers feel the pressure keenly. Barclays Corporate's analysis of UK manufacturing found skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) are the top three barriers to growth. When three quarters of manufacturers point to the same problem, it tells you hiring is the bottleneck, not ambition.
Engineering is where the squeeze bites hardest. the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) reports that 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list. A new £97m investment in automation lands into exactly this gap: more capacity, more kit, and more need for the people who can design, run and maintain it, set against the 55,000 unfilled long-term vacancies Make UK records across UK manufacturing.
Automation is changing the shape of the shop floor, not shrinking it. Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap report found six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as the trends changing jobs and skills needs, while 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030. That means more demand for engineers who can think, troubleshoot and adapt, not just operate.
There is clear headroom to grow. the GOV.UK Smart Machines Strategy 2035 notes the International Federation of Robotics found UK utilisation of industrial robots substantially lags internationally, using only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020. Make UK's Making it Smarter report places the UK just 24th in global robotics density, and estimates targeted innovation and digital investment could add £150 billion to the UK's GDP by 2035. Centres like Belfast's are how that gap starts to close, and every robot still needs engineers around it.
Existing teams are part of the answer too. Make UK's Executive Survey 2026 found 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, a figure that rises for firms with more than 1,000 employees. So the growing roles are a mix: new technical hires, and current staff moving into controls, robotics and digital maintenance.
Start by being honest about the real barrier. The Manufacturer's coverage of Make UK research found 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. If you want automation to pay off, you hire and build the skills to run it, not just buy the machines.
Three moves help. First, write for the skill, not the old job title: define the controls, robotics and digital competencies the role actually needs, because Make UK's 2030 skills research shows demand is shifting toward cognitive and problem-solving ability. Second, widen the net, since the IET reports 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles and a narrow search makes that worse. Third, pair hiring with upskilling, as 40% of manufacturers are already redeploying people into automation roles per Make UK's Executive Survey 2026.
Speed matters as much as reach. With 55,000 long-term vacancies sitting open across UK manufacturing, as Make UK reports, the engineers you want are in demand elsewhere. A slow process loses them. The employers who win are the ones who shortlist quickly, reach out fast and keep candidates warm from first contact to offer.
This is where we come in. We search a database of 15 million candidates to surface engineering and automation talent quickly, then rank a shortlist and manage the process end to end so your team can stay focused on production. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If Belfast's investment has you scaling an engineering team, talk to us today and let's get your shortlist moving.
