The headline story is a country playing catch-up. The UK ranks just 24th in global robotics density, and closing that gap through targeted innovation and digital investment could add £150 billion to UK GDP by 2035 Make UK's 2025 report on accelerating automation. That scale of opportunity is why food and confectionery producers are now treating automation as a core investment, not a side project.
The gap is real and measurable. The International Federation of Robotics reported that UK utilisation of industrial robots substantially lags internationally, using only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020 the GOV.UK Smart Machines Strategy 2035. For high-volume, repetitive processes like sweet wrapping, moulding and packing, that leaves plenty of room to grow, and that growth creates demand for people who can specify, install and run the kit.
Adoption, though, is early. Only 2% of manufacturers say AI is widely embedded across their operations, while over 50% cite skills shortages as the main barrier to AI adoption The Manufacturer's 2026 analysis of Make UK data. So the market is growing fast, but the people to run it are in short supply. For employers, that is the hiring challenge to solve now.
Automation does not remove jobs so much as change them. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited 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's 2030 skills report. On a confectionery line, that means more controls engineers, maintenance technicians, data analysts and line programmers, and fewer purely manual roles.
Reskilling your current team matters just as much as external hiring. Some 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 the Make UK Executive Survey 2026. The practical takeaway: plan for a blend of new specialist hires and internal moves as lines modernise.
Start with the skills shortage, because it is the main brake on progress: over 50% of manufacturers cite skills shortages as the main barrier to AI adoption The Manufacturer's 2026 report. Map the roles each line upgrade needs before the machinery lands, so your hiring runs ahead of the install, not behind it.
Speed and precision win here. The right controls engineer or maintenance technician keeps a new line running at capacity, so a slow hiring process costs you output every week it drags on.
Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, through Reed.ai. There is no monthly fee and no upfront cost, so you only pay when you hire the right person. Tell us the role you are automating for, and start building your line team today.
