The direction of travel is clear, and the gap is real. 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 Making it Smarter: Global Lessons for Accelerating Automation and Digital Adoption in UK Manufacturing - Make UK. That lag shows up on the shop floor: the International Federation of Robotics reported that the UK used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, substantially behind international peers Smart Machines Strategy 2035 - GOV.UK.
For glass container lines, that catch-up is now a hiring story. As plants add robotics, vision inspection and digital controls, the briefs widen from pure mechanical skills to data, systems and problem solving. Yet the headwinds are steep: in 2025 there were 55,000 unfilled long-term vacancies in UK manufacturing, costing the economy £6bn in lost output every year Make UK – Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025.
The skills mix is shifting fast. 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 – 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap. On a glass container line, that means roles blending maintenance, controls, quality data and continuous improvement, rather than single-task operating jobs.
Employers are also building skills from within. 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 Make UK Executive Survey 2026. So the typical 2026 brief pairs external hiring for scarce technical skills with internal redeployment, and that balance shapes who you look for and how.
Start with the barrier that holds adoption back. 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 The Manufacturer / Make UK – AI, Skills and the Future of UK Manufacturing. The lesson is to hire for learning capacity and adjacent transferable skills, not only for a narrow tool match, because the tools on your line will keep changing.
Competition for these people is fierce. Manufacturers' top barriers to growth are skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) Barclays Corporate – Skills shortage in UK Manufacturing. So move quickly, write briefs around outcomes rather than job titles, widen your talent pool beyond the obvious sources, and plan retention and upskilling into the offer from day one.
When a glass container line needs technical people and the shortlist has to be right, speed and reach both matter. We search a database of 15 million candidates and manage recruitment end to end, so you can focus on the plant while the search runs. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. Tell Reed.ai the role today and we'll start building your shortlist.
