Demand for manufacturing talent is strong, but filling roles is hard. 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 wider recruitment challenge across the sector.
The barriers are clear. Manufacturers rank skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) as their top obstacles to growth, as reported by Barclays Corporate's 2024 analysis of the UK manufacturing skills shortage. For personal care production lines ramping up output, that means competing hard for people who already know their way around a plant.
The mix of roles is broadening as production modernises. 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, according to Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap report. In practice, that pulls personal care plants towards process operators, maintenance technicians, automation engineers and quality specialists all at once.
Reskilling is part of the answer too. 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, as set out in the Make UK Executive Survey 2026, and that figure increases for firms with more than 1,000 employees. New technology adds its own hiring pressure: 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, per Make UK and The Manufacturer's 2026 report on AI and skills.
Start by being specific about what the role actually needs on the line, then widen the net. With skills shortages named as the top barrier to growth by 75% of manufacturers in Barclays Corporate's 2024 skills shortage analysis, you cannot rely on a perfect ready-made match for every vacancy.
Speed and reach matter. The longer a plant role stays open, the more output you lose, so a shortlist you can act on this week beats a perfect process that takes months.
We search a database of 15 million candidates to find people who match your plant roles, and we manage the process end to end, from shortlist to interview. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. Tell us the role, and Reed.ai will start building your shortlist today.
