The short answer is tight. Engineering employers are struggling to fill the roles that make automation and digitalisation work, and energy-aware controls sits right in the middle of that squeeze. The Institution of Engineering and Technology reported in 2025 that 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list. Those two skill sets, technical controls and sustainability, are exactly what energy monitoring on the controls engineer brief brings together.
The demand is being driven by how work itself is changing. Make UK's 2030 Skills report found that 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. When a controls engineer is asked to read energy data, interpret it and act on it, that is the cognitive layer those employers are describing.
There is a gap between ambition and reality, though. The Manufacturer, reporting on a 2026 Make UK study, noted that 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. So the appetite is clear, but the people to deliver it are scarce.
Two forces are reshaping the controls engineer role. The first is churn. Engineering and Technology Jobs reported, citing Rise Technical's 2025/26 Insights Report of over 500 employers and 1,000 candidates, that 79% of UK technical professionals plan to change employers in 2026. When four in five technical people are open to moving, the brief you advertise, including whether it covers energy monitoring, becomes part of how you compete for them.
The second force is upskilling. Make UK's Executive Survey 2026 found that 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. Energy monitoring is a natural extension for a controls engineer who already understands the plant, which is why it keeps landing on existing job descriptions rather than new ones.
There is headroom here, and it is worth naming. The Smart Machines Strategy 2035 cited the International Federation of Robotics finding that the UK used only 101 industrial robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, substantially behind international peers. Make UK's Making it Smarter report placed the UK 24th in global robotics density and estimated that targeted innovation and digital investment could add £150 billion to the UK's GDP by 2035. Every one of those automated lines needs someone watching its energy use, and that someone is increasingly the controls engineer.
Start by writing the brief honestly. If energy monitoring is now part of the job, say so, and describe the tools and the outcomes you expect. With 76% of engineering employers struggling to recruit for key roles per the IET's 2025 findings, a vague advert loses you the few people who can actually do the work.
Above all, treat the interview as a two-way sell. When over 50% of manufacturers name skills shortages as the main barrier to AI adoption per The Manufacturer's 2026 reporting, the person across the table has options, and a clear, well-structured process is how you win them.
When the brief spans controls and energy monitoring, the hard part is finding the handful of people who genuinely cover both. We search a database of 15 million candidates to surface and rank that shortlist for you, then handle the process end to end. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you are hiring an energy-aware controls engineer, talk to Reed.ai and let us line up the shortlist.
