Manufacturing is changing faster than most hiring processes keep up with. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cite automation and half (50%) cite wider digitalisation as the trends reshaping jobs and skills needs, according to Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap report. That same report finds 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to rise by 2030 Make UK's 2030 Skills report.
The skills gap is now the headline barrier to progress. 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 The Manufacturer and Make UK's report on AI, skills and the future of UK manufacturing. When the work is moving and the talent is scarce, how you test for skill matters more than ever.
Automation is not just cutting roles. It is reshaping them. 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, according to the Make UK Executive Survey 2026, and that figure climbs for firms with more than 1,000 employees the Make UK Executive Survey 2026.
There is also a lot of room to grow. 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, per Make UK's Making it Smarter report. The gap is real today: the UK used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, according to the government's Smart Machines Strategy 2035. As machines take more of the routine work, the human roles lean towards judgement, setup and problem-solving, exactly the things a conversation struggles to measure.
Start with the advert you already wrote. Every posted duty is a clue to a task you can test. Pull the duties out, then turn each one into a short, observable exercise on or near the line.
Keep it short. A focused 30 to 45 minute practical tells you more than an hour of questions. And because the tasks come straight from the advert, you are testing the job, not a proxy for it.
Good assessments only help once you have the right people to assess. We search a database of 15 million candidates, rank a shortlist in under 30 seconds and contact matched people in under a minute, so you spend your time running practical tests, not chasing applications. 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. Post your plant role today and see your shortlist in seconds.
