The backdrop is cautious. The latest ONS figures show vacancy estimates fell by 7,000 (0.9%) to 712,000 in April to June 2026, down 18,000 (2.5%) on a year earlier, with decreases in 11 of the 18 sectors ONS - Vacancies and jobs in the UK. There are now 2.5 unemployed people per vacancy, a ratio that has held steady since mid-2025 ONS - Vacancies and jobs in the UK.
Some of this reflects a wider pattern the Low Pay Commission calls a 'low hire, low fire' market: weaker recruitment, only slight increases in redundancies, and vacancies sitting below pre-pandemic levels Low Pay Commission Report 2025, GOV.UK. For automation, though, the picture is more nuanced. Professional, scientific and technical activities is one of the sectors where movement is real: it posted the largest volume increase in vacancies, up 5,000, in late 2025 ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025. That is precisely the corner of the economy where life sciences engineering and automation sit.
Skills England reinforces the point. Its 2026 report finds that digital, engineering and construction occupations appear most commonly among priority occupations, many already facing high recruitment demand and expected to keep growing strongly GOV.UK - Skills England annual skills report 2026. In short, headline vacancies are soft, but engineering skills are scarce and getting scarcer.
The clearest signal is a widening gap between entry-level and experienced hiring in engineering. Government data shows entry-level hiring in engineering has fallen to -19% while senior hiring sits at -10%, a nine-percentage-point gap GOV.UK - A snapshot of entry-level hiring in the UK. Employers are prioritising people who can arrive ready to work on regulated, high-value production lines rather than train up from scratch.
That squeeze on juniors is not unique to engineering. Adzuna has recorded a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT launched, leaving graduates facing the toughest market since 2018 techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?. For automation teams, the risk is a thinning pipeline of the next generation of controls and validation engineers.
Where automation meets life sciences, demand concentrates on specialist skills: control systems, PLC and SCADA integration, and the validation and quality expertise regulated pharma manufacturing requires. That mirrors the wider tech market, where demand hotspots for specialist skills such as AI, data and enterprise applications are driving hiring into 2026 Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). Encouragingly, engineering already builds much of its own talent: the vast majority of new hires come from the resident labour force, showing low reliance on international recruitment GOV.UK - Professionals in IT and engineering. Apprenticeships are one route worth watching, having risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report.
Start by being specific. In a market where senior engineering hiring is holding up better than junior GOV.UK - A snapshot of entry-level hiring in the UK, vague job descriptions cost you. Name the control platforms, the validation standards and the regulatory environment your line runs to. The sharper the brief, the faster the right people surface.
The KPMG and REC monthly Report on Jobs remains a useful barometer for tracking how demand shifts month to month KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs June 2026. Check it against your own applicant flow to spot where you need to act sooner.
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