The 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, according to Make UK – Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025. That is output stuck on the factory floor because the right people are not yet in post.
Employers feel it keenly. Manufacturers rank skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) as their top barriers to growth, as Barclays Corporate – Skills shortage in UK Manufacturing found. When you electrify process heat, you add a new layer of demand on top of an already tight market, so planning your hiring early matters more than ever.
Moving from gas-fired to electric heat is part of a wider shift towards automated, data-rich plants, and that is changing which skills you hire for. 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 – 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap. In plain terms, you need people who can set up, monitor and troubleshoot smart equipment, not just operate it.
There is clear headroom to grow into. 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 Making it Smarter: Global Lessons for Accelerating Automation and Digital Adoption in UK Manufacturing - Make UK. Government data tells the same story: the UK used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, substantially lagging international peers, as reported in the Smart Machines Strategy 2035 - GOV.UK. As plants automate and electrify together, demand for control, maintenance and digital skills climbs.
Skills are also the brake on the technology itself. 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 / Make UK – AI, Skills and the Future of UK Manufacturing. The people you hire now decide how fast your new equipment pays off.
Start by mapping the roles your new heat and automation systems actually need, then split that into what you can build internally and what you must recruit. Many manufacturers are already choosing the first route: 40% are looking to upskill their existing workforce for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, a figure that rises for firms with more than 1,000 employees, according to Make UK Executive Survey 2026. Upskilling keeps the plant knowledge you already have and narrows the external search to the genuinely new skills.
For those external hires, write for skills over job titles. Someone from a different process or sector who understands control systems and data may adapt faster than a like-for-like hire from older kit. Move quickly too: in a market this tight, a slow, multi-stage process loses strong people to employers who book the interview first. The aim is a clear brief, a fast first contact and a shortlist judged on capability.
Fast, skills-first hiring is exactly what our recruitment agent is built for. 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. If you are planning for an electrified, automated plant, tell us the role and let us build your shortlist.
