Automation is moving fast on the factory floor, and hiring is trying to keep pace. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cited automation and half (50%) cited wider digitalisation as trends changing jobs and skills needs, while 74% expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to increase by 2030, according to Make UK's 2030 Skills report. On steel processing lines, that shift is concrete: slitting, pickling and coating equipment increasingly runs through programmable controls and sensors, so the people who keep those lines moving need new skills.
There's room to grow. The UK ranks just 24th in global robotics density, yet targeted innovation and digital investment could add £150 billion to the UK's GDP by 2035, according to Make UK's Making it Smarter report. That gap is longstanding: the International Federation of Robotics reported UK utilisation of industrial robots substantially lags internationally, using only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, as set out in the GOV.UK Smart Machines Strategy 2035. As more steel lines automate, demand for the people who install, program and maintain that kit rises with it.
But adoption is early. Only 2% of manufacturers say AI is widely embedded across their operations, and over 50% cite skills shortages as the main barrier to AI adoption, according to The Manufacturer's coverage of Make UK's AI and skills report. In other words, the technology is ready before the workforce is, and that makes hiring the pinch point.
The roles in demand sit where engineering meets digital. Occupations in Digital, Adult Social Care, Construction and Engineering have the greatest additional employment demand between 2025 and 2030, according to Skills England's assessment of priority skills to 2030. For a steel processing plant, that means controls engineers, maintenance technicians who can read a fault across both mechanical and software layers, and data roles that turn line sensors into fewer stoppages.
These people are hard to find. 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology. The scale of the shortfall is significant too: 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.
There's a structural wrinkle to watch. In Engineering, entry-level hiring has fallen to -19% while senior hiring sits at -10%, a 9-percentage-point gap, according to a GOV.UK snapshot of entry-level hiring. If employers chase only experienced automation specialists and let entry-level routes shrink, the pipeline for tomorrow's line engineers narrows. Building your own talent matters as much as buying it in.
Start with the people you already have. 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, according to the Make UK Executive Survey 2026. A line operator who knows your steel, your tolerances and your customers is often a strong fit for a controls or maintenance role with the right training.
Then fix recruitment itself. Manufacturers' top barriers to growth are skills shortages (75%), recruitment (36%) and talent retention (32%), according to Barclays Corporate's analysis of the UK manufacturing skills shortage. When recruitment is a named barrier, slow and scattered hiring makes the skills gap worse. Write role profiles around the hybrid skills the line actually needs, widen your search beyond people who tick every box, and move quickly once you find the right person, because strong engineers rarely stay on the market long.
Keep the entry-level door open. Apprenticeships and trainee technician routes protect the pipeline the data warns is thinning, and they let you shape skills around your own equipment. Hire for aptitude and curiosity as well as current experience, then back it with structured training on your specific lines.
When you need the right controls engineer or maintenance technician fast, we help. We search a database of 15 million candidates and return a ranked shortlist in under 30 seconds, so you spend your time talking to people who fit the line, not sifting applications. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. Tell Reed.ai the role and see your shortlist today.
