Demand is high and supply is short. 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's Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025. That gap sits on top of a sector already working to modernise, so every new hire counts.
Employers feel it most in talent. Barclays Corporate's analysis of the UK manufacturing skills shortage found that skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) are manufacturers' top barriers to growth. Engineering is just as stretched: the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) reports that 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list.
Fusion engineering lands right in the middle of that picture. It's an advanced, sustainability-focused field that needs exactly the technical and specialist skills employers say are hardest to find today.
Fusion projects pull in a broad mix of skills, and official forecasts point the same way. Skills England's assessment of priority skills to 2030 names digital, adult social care, construction and engineering as the occupations with the greatest additional employment demand between 2025 and 2030. The Skills England annual skills report 2026 adds that digital, engineering and construction occupations appear most commonly among priority occupations, many already experiencing high recruitment demand and expected to keep growing strongly.
The nature of the work is shifting too. Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap report found that six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as trends changing jobs and skills needs, while 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030. For fusion, that means roles such as precision fabrication, vacuum and cryogenics technicians, controls and robotics engineers, materials specialists, and data and digital roles that keep complex systems running.
Retraining is part of the answer. The Make UK 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 increases for firms with more than 1,000 employees.
Start with the skills, not the job title. Fusion and advanced manufacturing roles often combine disciplines, so write your brief around the capabilities you actually need and the ones you can train. With 76% of engineering employers struggling to recruit for key roles, per the IET, a flexible, skills-first brief widens your pool without lowering the bar.
Move quickly and keep people informed. When demand is this high, strong candidates have options, so a clear process and fast feedback protect your shortlist. Pair that with an upskilling plan: with 40% of manufacturers planning to retrain their own workforce, per the Make UK Executive Survey 2026, you can hire for potential and build the specialist skills in house.
We search 15 million candidates to surface the engineering, digital and skilled manufacturing people your fusion and advanced projects need, and we manage the process end to end so your team stays focused on delivery. 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. Ready to build your team? Tell us the role and we'll start shortlisting today.
