Demand is high and supply is tight. 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. That gap is felt most sharply at the front line of production, where firms need people who can build, test and refine physical products.
Employers know where the pressure sits. Manufacturers name skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%) as their top barriers to growth Barclays Corporate – Skills shortage in UK Manufacturing. Space manufacturing sits inside this picture, competing for the same engineers and technicians as every other advanced production sector.
There is a clear opportunity behind the challenge. 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. Growth areas such as satellites, launch systems and spacecraft components are part of how the UK closes that gap and builds new production capacity.
The roles space work opens up mirror the wider engineering economy. Occupations in digital, adult social care, construction and engineering have the greatest additional employment demand between 2025 and 2030 GOV.UK - Assessment of priority skills to 2030 (Skills England). For production teams, that means precision machinists, assembly technicians, quality engineers and digital-manufacturing specialists.
Those roles are hard to fill. Some 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Digital, engineering and construction occupations appear most commonly among priority occupations, many already experiencing high recruitment demand and expected to keep growing strongly GOV.UK - Skills England annual skills report 2026.
The nature of the work is changing too. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cite automation and half (50%) cite 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. Space production is at the leading edge of that shift, blending hands-on craft with data, robotics and problem-solving.
Start by looking inward as well as outward. 40% of manufacturers are looking to upskill their existing workforce, specifically for redeployment as a result of automation and digitalisation, and that figure increases for firms with more than 1,000 employees Make UK Executive Survey 2026. Many of the people you need for space production may already be on your floor, one training course away from a new role.
Then hire for potential, not just a perfect match. With 76% of engineering employers struggling to recruit for key roles Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a narrow shortlist slows you down. Widen your search across transferable skills, move quickly when the right person appears, and make retention part of the plan, since talent retention is already a top-three barrier for manufacturers Barclays Corporate – Skills shortage in UK Manufacturing.
Speed matters most when 55,000 vacancies are already open and costing £6bn a year Make UK – Industrial Strategy Skills Commission Report 2025. A clear role definition, a short and respectful process, and fast follow-up help you win people before another employer does.
We built Reed.ai to help you find the right person and manage recruitment end to end. We search a database of 15 million people, rank a shortlist for you, and handle the process from first contact to a booked interview, so your team can stay focused on production. 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 hiring for space production or any advanced manufacturing role, tell us what you need and we will start building your shortlist today.
