Planning Your Hiring Strategy To Mitigate Skills Shortages
UK manufacturing and engineering companies are facing one of the toughest labour market challenges in decades. With engineering job advertisements accounting for a quarter of all vacancies and the demand for green and digital skills accelerating, employers are finding it more challenging than ever to recruit the people they need. At the same time, production output is fluctuating. The latest ONS Index of Production reveals that total output across the production industries fell by 1.3% in the three months to July 2025, with manufacturing down by 1.1%. For businesses, that means unpredictable demand combined with an already overstretched talent market, and for employers, it means uncertainty about how to resource effectively for the future.
Without a clear hiring strategy, these skills shortages can further restrict growth, delay projects and weaken competitiveness. But, with a proactive workforce plan and the right recruitment partner, you can build in resilience, flexibility and access to the skills you need to develop your business further.
The scale of the challenge
Engineering is a critical industry in the UK and currently employs around 6.4 million people. That’s 19%, or nearly one in five jobs. However, the supply of engineering and manufacturing specialists isn’t keeping pace with either current or future demand. Apprenticeship starts in engineering aren’t growing as fast as was hoped and remain below 2016/17 levels, and participation from women, people with disabilities and minority ethnic groups lags behind other industries.
At the same time, the skills in the areas of highest expertise are evolving rapidly. Over the last five years, job advertisements requiring ‘green technology’ skills have risen by 48%, while postings for green engineering roles have increased by 55%. This demonstrates the UK’s rapid transition towards low-carbon technologies, digital manufacturing and automation – areas where the availability of suitably skilled candidates remains limited. Employers aiming to get ahead in sustainability, digitalisation and the adoption of advanced technologies are no longer looking for wholly traditional expertise such as welders, machinists or project engineers; they increasingly need specialists in automation, data analysis, energy efficiency and materials innovation.
This mismatch between supply and demand is already visible, with the need for engineering and manufacturing professionals already outstripping availability and recruitment challenges felt across almost every sub-sector. Without a strategic response, employers face escalating recruitment costs, project delays and the potential loss of market share. The need for a smarter approach to hiring has become urgent.
Building a strategic workforce strategy
Effective workforce planning requires employers to move from reactive to strategic if they want to reduce their exposure to skills shortages and future-proof their business. To mitigate the worst effects, you should consider:
Anticipate future needs – use external industry and market data (such as the number of engineering or manufacturing job advertisements and sector output) as well as internal KPIs (time-to-hire, retention rates and skills gaps filled) to align your forecasts to both your medium- and long-term business goals. Plan for future roles and consider potential regulatory pressures, customer expectations and green transition timelines. In this way, you’ll be able to anticipate the technical skills you’ll need and will be able to develop or source those skills in advance, either through external recruitment or by progressing them within your existing workforce.
Strengthen talent pipelines – addressing current as well as future skills shortages requires a multi-channel approach. Aim for a blended talent pipeline that balances immediate recruitment with long-term investment. This might mean expanding apprenticeships and graduate intakes, partnering with colleges and universities that provide specialist courses, reskilling existing staff into new roles and proactively engaging underrepresented groups to widen your talent base, reduce your risk and increase your resilience. Creating a strong employer brand will help you attract more diverse talent pools.
Utilise agile hiring – fluctuations in demand, such as the ONS has highlighted, may mean that you need a mix of permanent hires for critical, stable functions, contractors and interim specialists for project-based needs and flexible workers who can move between roles as demand changes. A flexible model will ensure that you can scale up or down without compromising on quality or delivery.
Retain and develop – skills shortages make retention as important as hiring, particularly in markets where highly skilled employees have multiple options and are in demand. Competitive pay does matter, but so does investing in training and development and offering clear career pathways which could help employees move into emerging roles. Upskilling not only fills gaps in critical areas but also strengthens engagement and loyalty, enabling you to retain the talent you’ve invested in.
By planning, diversifying your sources of talent and building agility into hiring models, you can create resilience and protect your investment in skills.
How Employment Solutions can help
Developing and implementing a workforce strategy requires not only resources but also insight and specialist knowledge to mitigate the pace of change in engineering and manufacturing recruitment. We provide tailored support to help you navigate this complexity through services such as:
Foresight – we track and analyse labour market trends, skills demands (especially for green tech, digital and automation) and can help you anticipate what skills will be needed in both the short- and long-term, so you can plan proactively and remain competitive
Flexibility – whether you need permanent staff, contractors, apprentices or interim placements, we can scale to your requirements so that you can stay agile and adapt to downturns or spikes without overcommitment
Access to talent – we can connect you with networks and communities that reach beyond traditional channels to offer you a wider, more diverse talent pool
Retention support – we can help you design recruitment processes that prioritise not only technical capability but also align with long-term development, potential and culture, so that new hires don’t just fill gaps, but grow with you.
By embedding our recruitment expertise into your workforce planning, you’re able to secure the foresight, flexibility and access to talent that you need to mitigate current and future skills shortages effectively.
Final thoughts
The UK manufacturing and engineering sectors are experiencing a dual challenge – declining production in many subsectors and a rapidly rising demand for new technical skills, especially in green technologies. However, these issues are not insurmountable. Employers who adopt a strategic approach to workforce planning through anticipating future needs, building stronger talent pipelines, enhancing agility and prioritising retention will find themselves in a much stronger position than their competitors.
By partnering with a trusted recruitment specialist like Employment Solutions, that implicitly understands the engineering and manufacturing sectors, you can develop a hiring strategy that focuses on foresight, flexibility and access to talent. We can help your business processes become smoother, more accurate and more resilient, helping you stay ahead of skills shortages rather than being constrained by them.
For more information about how you can prevent skills shortages becoming a barrier to growth, get in touch.
