The gap is the story. The UK ranks just 24th in global robotics density, and closing that gap through 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 under-use is long-standing: the UK used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, substantially behind international peers, as reported in the government's Smart Machines Strategy 2035.
Checkweighing sits inside this wider picture. A checkweigher weighs every pack as it moves down the line, rejecting anything over or under target and feeding data back into the process. It is one more piece of connected kit that needs people to set it up, keep it running and read what it tells them. So each new system widens the brief: more automation on the floor means more demand for the skills to run it.
The appetite is there. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as trends changing jobs and skills needs, with 74% expecting demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030, per Make UK's 2030 Skills report. Retail and logistics were already actively integrating AI to streamline functions such as inventory management and supply chains, according to the government's AI Adoption Research.
Checkweighing pulls in a mix of hands and heads. You need line operators who can set targets and clear faults, maintenance engineers who keep rejectors and sensors calibrated, and quality and data people who turn weight readings into decisions about waste, giveaway and compliance. As more of the line links up, those roles start to blur into each other.
That shift is already reshaping skills demand. 74% of manufacturers expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, the thinking and problem-solving skills, to increase by 2030, per Make UK's 2030 Skills report. In plain terms, the premium moves towards people who can interpret data and troubleshoot, not just press start and stop.
Many firms plan to grow this talent from within. 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, and that figure rises for firms with more than 1,000 employees, according to the Make UK Executive Survey 2026.
Start with the barrier most firms hit. 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, per The Manufacturer's coverage of Make UK research. So the smart move is to plan the people before you plug in the machine.
A few practical steps. Write the role around the line, not a generic job title: say which systems the person will run and what good looks like in weight data, uptime and reject rates. Hire for curiosity and problem-solving, since those cognitive skills are the ones in rising demand. Pair that with a clear reskilling path, because so many firms are redeploying their own people rather than buying every skill in.
Then move quickly. In a tight market, the best engineers and quality specialists do not stay available for long, so a slow, vague process costs you the hire. Be specific, be fast, and be ready to grow talent as the automation brief keeps widening.
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