Demand is high 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. Skills shortages sit at the top of the list of concerns: 75% of manufacturers name them as a barrier to growth, with recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) close behind, as Barclays Corporate's analysis of the manufacturing skills shortage sets out.
The pressure is sharpest in engineering. Some 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list, reports the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Government analysis backs this up: digital, engineering and construction occupations appear most commonly among priority occupations, many already experiencing high recruitment demand and expected to keep growing strongly, according to Skills England's 2026 annual skills report. A new £97m automation centre in Belfast lands right into that gap, adding fresh demand for the exact skills that are already hard to find GOV.UK - Skills England annual skills report 2026.
Automation reshapes the shop floor rather than emptying it. 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, per Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap report. In plain terms, that means more problem-solving, data and systems-thinking alongside hands-on engineering.
There is plenty of headroom too. 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, according to Make UK's Making it Smarter report. That lag is stark: the UK used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, substantially behind international peers, as the government's Smart Machines Strategy 2035 notes, drawing on International Federation of Robotics data. New centres like the one in Belfast are how that gap starts to close, and each one needs engineers, technicians and digital specialists to run it.
Start by widening the net and growing from within. 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, with that figure higher for firms of more than 1,000 employees, reports Make UK's Executive Survey 2026. Upskilling fills some roles, but it works best alongside a sharp external hiring plan for the specialist skills you cannot build quickly.
Be realistic about what is holding adoption back. 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, according to The Manufacturer and Make UK's report on AI, skills and the future of UK manufacturing. So define roles around the capabilities you actually need, move fast when the right person appears, and don't let a slow process lose you talent that competitors are chasing too. Demand is set to keep climbing: occupations in digital, adult social care, construction and engineering have the greatest additional employment demand between 2025 and 2030, per Skills England's assessment of priority skills to 2030.
When specialist engineering skills are scarce and demand keeps rising, speed and reach matter. With Reed.ai, we search 15 million candidates to surface a ranked shortlist in under 30 seconds, contact matched people in under a minute, and book interviews in under three minutes, so you can move before the right person is gone. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you're hiring for your automation or engineering teams, start a search with us today.
