The direction of travel is clear. Six in ten (59%) manufacturers cite automation and half (50%) cite wider digitalisation as the trends changing 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. That signals a shift away from narrow, single-machine roles toward people who can think across systems.
Yet adoption is still 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 Make UK's AI, Skills and the Future of UK Manufacturing analysis. The gap between ambition and capability is, for now, a people problem.
There's a lot of headroom. 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. International figures tell the same story: the UK used only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, substantially lagging other economies the government's Smart Machines Strategy 2035. As that investment lands, the roles behind it multiply.
Automation used to mean the panel: wiring, PLCs and controls on the shop floor. Now the same job description reaches into the cloud, pulling in data, connectivity and AI. That's why 40% of manufacturers 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.
The demand isn't confined to factories. Sectors like retail and logistics are already actively integrating AI to improve customer insights and streamline functions such as inventory management and supply chains the government's AI Adoption Research. Controls, data and cloud skills now travel across sectors, which widens where you can look for talent and where your people can go next.
At a national level, the scale is large. For the total of AI-related occupations, the net change ranges from around 696,000 jobs in the automation scenario to 1,072,000 in the technological opportunities scenario, with replacement demand of 3,077,000 to 3,193,000 jobs the government's AI Skills for Life and Work projections. Most of that hiring is about replacing and reshaping roles, not just adding new ones.
Start with the system, not the job title. Because 74% of manufacturers expect demand for cognitive and meta-cognitive skills to rise by 2030 Make UK's 2030 Skills report, screen for problem-solving and the ability to learn new tools, not just a fixed list of certifications. A strong controls engineer who can pick up cloud platforms often beats a narrow specialist.
Pair hiring with upskilling. With 40% of manufacturers planning to upskill and redeploy existing staff Make UK's Executive Survey 2026, the best plans mix external hires with internal moves. Decide which skills you buy in and which you build, then write role briefs that reflect both the panel work today and the cloud work coming next.
Move quickly, because the cost of waiting is real. 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. Clear briefs, fast feedback and short interview loops keep good people from drifting to a competitor mid-process.
We built Reed.ai to make this kind of hiring faster and simpler. We search 15 million candidates and manage recruitment end to end, from a ranked shortlist to a booked interview, so you can focus on picking the right person rather than chasing the process. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you're hiring across controls, data or cloud this year, start a search with us today.
