The controls skill set is changing faster than most hiring plans. Automation and digitalisation are the big drivers: six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as trends reshaping their jobs and skills needs, and 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030 Make UK's 2030 Skills: Closing the Gap report. Software-defined drives sit right at the centre of that shift, pulling controls work away from pure hardware and towards code, configuration and data.
The gap is already costing money. In 2025 there were 55,000 unfilled long-term vacancies in UK manufacturing, costing the economy £6bn in lost output every year Make UK's Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025. And it is holding back the technology itself: 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 and Make UK's report on AI, skills and the future of UK manufacturing.
There is a lot of ground to make up. 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 Make UK's Making it Smarter report. That is the opportunity hiding behind the skills question.
Demand for engineering talent is sharp and broad. 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list the Institution of Engineering and Technology. For controls teams, that means PLC and drive programmers, systems integrators and people who can read both a wiring diagram and a software stack are hard to find.
The automation story explains why. UK utilisation of industrial robots substantially lags internationally, using only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020 the Government's Smart Machines Strategy 2035, citing the International Federation of Robotics. As more plants adopt software-defined drives and connected machines, the skills needed move from mechanical fitting toward networking, diagnostics and firmware.
Retention is the other half of the dynamic. 79% of UK technical professionals plan to change employers in 2026, according to a survey of over 500 employers and 1,000 candidates Rise Technical's 2025/26 Insights Report. When nearly four in five are open to moving, speed and a clear offer decide who wins the hire.
Start by hiring for the trajectory, not just today's wiring. Many manufacturers are already doing this: 40% are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, a figure that rises for firms with more than 1,000 employees Make UK's Executive Survey 2026. Build roles that mix hardware grounding with software and data skills, and write job adverts around problems to solve rather than a long list of named products.
Be honest about where you are on the automation curve, then hire the people who move you along it. The firms that pair recruitment with upskilling will close the controls gap fastest.
This is where we come in. We search a database of 15 million candidates to find the controls and automation engineers who match the software-defined skills you need, and we manage the recruitment end to end so your team stays focused on the line. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you are ready to build a controls team for software-defined drives, start your next hire with Reed.ai today.
