It's tight, and the pressure sits squarely on skills. Three in four engineering employers (76%) struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology's 2025 skills research. For food and drink manufacturers moving to software-driven lines, that shortage bites hardest where it matters most: the people who keep automated production running.
The wider manufacturing picture backs this up. Skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) rank as the top barriers to growth, Barclays Corporate's 2024 analysis of UK manufacturing found. So the question isn't whether demand is high. It's how you build a team when the market is this stretched.
Software and automation are rewriting the job description. Six in ten manufacturers (59%) cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as the trends changing jobs and skills needs, and 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030, reports Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap study. In plain terms, that means problem-solving, data literacy and the ability to learn fast now sit alongside hands-on engineering.
There's a catch, though. 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 a 2026 Make UK report on AI and skills. The software is ready. The teams, often, are not yet. That gap is exactly where fresh skills create an advantage.
Pair hiring with upskilling. Four in ten manufacturers (40%) 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, finds Make UK's Executive Survey 2026. The strongest teams grow their own talent and bring in new people who can plug immediate gaps on software-driven lines.
When you do hire, be specific. Write role profiles around the mix that matters now: the engineering fundamentals plus the data and software skills those lines demand. Prioritise people who learn quickly, because the tools will keep changing. And move fast when you find the right person, since in this market strong engineers rarely stay available for long.
We built Reed.ai to make that speed and specificity easier. We search 15 million candidates, rank a shortlist in under 30 seconds, contact matched people in under a minute and can book an interview in under three minutes, so you reach the right engineers before the market does. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. Tell us about your engineering role today and see your shortlist.
