The Automation Boom: How It’s Changing the Skills Required in Engineering Teams

Karl Montgomery • February 28, 2025

In recent years, the surge in automation and artificial intelligence has ushered in a new era for engineering teams. This revolution isn’t just about machines taking over repetitive tasks—it’s about reshaping the very fabric of engineering roles and the recruitment landscape. Today, we explore how automation and AI are transforming the skills that modern engineers need and what businesses can do to prepare for this dynamic future.


The Rise of Automation and AI in Engineering

Automation and AI are no longer futuristic buzzwords; they are very much part of our present reality. Advanced robotics, machine learning algorithms, and smart systems are increasingly handling tasks that were once the exclusive domain of human engineers. From streamlining production lines to optimising design processes, automation is enhancing efficiency and reducing errors.

Yet, while these technologies take centre stage in operational upgrades, they also prompt a crucial question: what skills should engineers cultivate in this new landscape? The answer is far from straightforward, as it involves both traditional engineering expertise and a robust understanding of digital systems.


The Changing Skill Requirements

Historically, engineering roles have been defined by a strong foundation in mathematics, physics, and specialised technical skills. However, the current automation boom has added a new layer of complexity.

 

Today’s engineers must be proficient not only in the nuts and bolts of their craft but also in understanding and interfacing with digital technologies. Here are some key shifts:

 

  • Data Literacy: With AI generating vast amounts of data, the ability to interpret and leverage this information is becoming indispensable.
  • Software Integration: Familiarity with programming languages and software tools is now as crucial as traditional engineering skills.
  • Interdisciplinary Thinking: The modern engineer is expected to blend knowledge from various fields—mechanical, electrical, and software engineering—to create cohesive, integrated systems.


The Emergence of Multi-Skilled Engineers

The traditional ‘one-trick pony’ is quickly becoming a relic of the past. In today’s engineering world, the ability to wear multiple hats is more than just an asset—it’s a necessity. Multi-skilled engineers who can bridge the gap between hardware and software, and between traditional engineering and digital innovation, are in high demand.

 

These professionals bring a holistic perspective to projects, ensuring that automation systems not only perform efficiently but also integrate seamlessly with existing digital infrastructures. Their role often involves:

 

  • Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Working alongside IT specialists, data scientists, and system integrators.
  • Continuous Learning: Keeping abreast of technological advancements and continually updating their skill set.
  • Problem-Solving: Applying diverse techniques from various disciplines to innovate and troubleshoot complex systems.


Integrating with Digital Systems

One of the most significant challenges—and opportunities—presented by automation is the integration with existing digital systems. Engineering teams are increasingly required to ensure that new automation technologies work in harmony with legacy systems and emerging digital platforms.


Key considerations include:

 

  • System Compatibility: Engineers must ensure that new automated solutions are compatible with older systems, avoiding costly overhauls.
  • Cybersecurity: As systems become more interconnected, safeguarding against digital threats is paramount.
  • Scalability: Solutions should be designed with the future in mind, allowing for easy upgrades and expansion as technology evolves.


Preparing the Workforce: Strategies for Businesses

As automation reshapes the engineering landscape, businesses must be proactive in preparing their workforce for these changes. Here are some strategies to consider:

 

1. Invest in Continuous Training:

  • Establish training programmes focused on emerging technologies, including AI, data analytics, and software integration.
  • Encourage engineers to pursue certifications and courses that bolster both their technical and digital skills.


2. Promote a Culture of Innovation:

  • Create an environment where experimentation is valued, and failure is seen as a learning opportunity.
  • Support cross-departmental projects that encourage collaboration between traditional engineers and digital experts.


3. Revamp Recruitment Strategies:

  • Adapt job descriptions to highlight the need for both specialised and digital skills.
  • Consider partnerships with educational institutions to tap into emerging talent who are already versed in the latest technological trends.


4. Foster Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing:

  • Pair experienced engineers with newer recruits to facilitate the exchange of traditional skills and innovative approaches.
  • Organise regular workshops and seminars that address both the technical and digital aspects of modern engineering.


The Evolving Recruitment Landscape

The recruitment process itself is undergoing a transformation in response to these shifting requirements. Employers are no longer looking solely for candidates with a strong technical background. They now seek versatile individuals who demonstrate a capacity for rapid learning and adaptation in a tech-driven environment.

 

Recruitment strategies are evolving in several ways:

 

  • Emphasis on Soft Skills: Communication, adaptability, and a collaborative mindset are increasingly valued alongside technical prowess.
  • Tech-Savvy Interview Processes: Many companies are incorporating technical challenges and real-time problem-solving scenarios into interviews to assess candidates’ ability to integrate with digital systems.
  • Diversity and Inclusion: A diverse workforce brings a wealth of perspectives, which is crucial for innovation in a field as dynamic as engineering.


Looking Ahead

The automation boom is not a temporary trend but a fundamental shift in the engineering domain. As automation and AI continue to evolve, so too will the skills required to harness their full potential. Businesses that invest in training, foster an innovative culture, and adapt their recruitment strategies will be best positioned to thrive in this new era.

 

In the face of rapid technological change, the key takeaway is clear: adaptability is king. Engineering teams must evolve, acquiring a blend of traditional and digital skills to not only survive but excel. For businesses, this means nurturing a workforce that is as dynamic and forward-thinking as the technology it seeks to master.

 

By embracing these changes today, companies can ensure that they remain at the cutting edge of innovation, ready to tackle the challenges—and seize the opportunities—of tomorrow’s engineering landscape.

The Silent Dealbreaker: Why Candidates Reject Job Offers at the Last Minute

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
Picture this: after weeks of interviews, countless email exchanges, and meticulous CV screening, you've finally found the perfect candidate. The offer letter is sent, champagne is on ice—then silence. A few days later, the dreaded email arrives: "Thank you for the opportunity, but I've decided to pursue another option." Last-minute candidate rejections aren't just frustrating—they're expensive, time-consuming, and increasingly common in today's competitive job market. According to recent research by Robert Half UK, 42% of UK professionals have accepted a job offer but continued to interview for other roles. More alarmingly, 28% admitted to accepting an offer only to back out before starting. But why is this happening, and what can recruitment professionals and hiring managers do to prevent these eleventh-hour disappointments?

How Data-Driven Decision Making Can Transform Workforce Productivity

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
In today's competitive business landscape, intuition and experience remain valuable, but they're no longer sufficient on their own. UK businesses facing rising operational costs, increasing competition, and a challenging economic environment can no longer afford to make critical workforce decisions based on gut feeling alone. The difference between thriving and merely surviving increasingly depends on how effectively organisations leverage data to optimise their most valuable resource: their people. According to research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) , UK productivity growth has stagnated since the 2008 financial crisis, lagging behind other G7 nations. With the April 2025 minimum wage increases looming, businesses face growing pressure to extract maximum value from their workforce investments. The good news? The rise of workforce analytics provides unprecedented opportunities to identify inefficiencies, optimise performance, and cultivate environments where employees thrive. As Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Arts (RSA), noted in the UK Government's Good Work Review : "In a world of increasing workplace complexity, the organisations that thrive will be those that measure what matters and act on the insights." This blog explores how data-driven decision making can transform workforce productivity, examining practical approaches that UK businesses are implementing today with remarkable results.

The Battle for Skilled Workers: How Manufacturing Can Compete with Other Industries for Talent

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
Manufacturing in the UK faces a talent crisis of unprecedented proportions. While the sector contributes over £191 billion to the British economy according to Make UK, it's increasingly losing its most valuable resource—skilled workers—to competing industries. This talent exodus comes at a critical moment when technological advancement demands more specialised skills than ever before. The Manufacturing Skills Gap Survey reveals a stark reality: 83% of UK manufacturers struggle to recruit appropriate talent, while 64% report losing skilled employees to other sectors—particularly technology, logistics, and renewable energy. This isn't merely a staffing challenge but an existential threat to the industry's future competitiveness and innovation capacity. "Manufacturing has an image problem that masks its reality," notes Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK. "While other sectors have successfully repositioned themselves as modern, dynamic career destinations, manufacturing continues to battle outdated perceptions that undermine its appeal to today's workforce." The good news? Forward-thinking manufacturers are finding ways to reverse this trend, implementing innovative strategies that not only stem the tide of departing talent but successfully attract skilled workers from other industries. This blog explores how manufacturing can transform its approach to talent acquisition and retention, repositioning itself as an employer of choice in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

From Passive to Proactive: How to Build a Talent Pipeline That Eliminates Recruitment Panic

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
The scenario is all too familiar: a key team member hands in their notice, triggering an immediate scramble to fill the position. Job descriptions are hastily updated, recruitment agencies engaged, and hiring managers pulled into urgent meetings—all while business continuity hangs in the balance and costs mount. This reactive approach to recruitment isn't merely stressful; it's strategically flawed. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), UK organisations take an average of 28 days to fill a vacancy, with specialist roles often exceeding 12 weeks. During this time, productivity suffers, remaining team members face increased pressure, and opportunities are missed. The alternative? Building a proactive talent pipeline—a continuously nurtured pool of engaged, pre-qualified candidates ready to step into roles as they become available. This approach doesn't just reduce time-to-hire; it fundamentally transforms recruitment from an emergency response to a strategic advantage.

The Impact of Same-Day Delivery on Warehouse recruiting: Are You Prepared?

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
The race to deliver ever faster is transforming the logistics landscape. What began as Amazon's competitive edge has evolved into an industry-wide expectation, with same-day delivery rapidly becoming the new standard rather than a premium service. For warehouse and logistics leaders, this shift creates unprecedented operational challenges—none more pressing than how to recruit, train, and retain the workforce necessary to meet these accelerated timelines. According to the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) , the demand for warehouse space has increased by 32% since 2020, driven largely by e-commerce growth and the same-day delivery paradigm. Yet while physical capacity expands, the human capital challenge grows even more acute. A recent LogisticsUK survey found that 82% of warehouse operators cite staffing as their most significant constraint in meeting same-day delivery demands. This isn't merely a challenge of hiring more people—it's about recruiting differently for roles that have fundamentally changed. As Peter Ward, former CEO of UKWA, notes: "Same-day delivery hasn't just accelerated timelines; it's transformed the very nature of warehouse work, creating new roles requiring different skills and aptitudes than traditional warehouse positions."

How to Recruit for Shift-Based Roles Without Destroying Work-Life Balance

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
In today's competitive labour market, attracting quality candidates for shift-based roles presents a unique challenge for HR professionals. The CIPD Working Lives Report found that 68% of UK shift workers report negative impacts on their personal lives, yet many businesses rely entirely on shift patterns to maintain operations. The critical question becomes: how can organisations recruit effectively for these positions while preserving the well-being and work-life balance that today's workforce demands? Far from being an impossible task, creating attractive shift-based roles requires strategic thinking and innovative approaches to work design. Companies that get this right gain a significant competitive advantage in recruitment, retention, and productivity – all while supporting employee wellbeing.

Why You’re Not Getting Interviews – And How to Fix It

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
You've spent hours perfecting your CV, searching for the right opportunities, and submitting applications – yet your inbox remains frustratingly empty. If you're wondering why you're not landing interviews despite your qualifications and experience, you're not alone. Recent research from Totaljobs shows that the average job opening in the UK attracts 49 applications, with only 15% of applicants typically securing an interview. The good news? With a few strategic adjustments to your approach, you can dramatically improve your chances of making it to the interview stage. Let's examine the most common reasons applications fall flat – and the practical steps you can take to stand out from the crowd.

The Future of Engineering Leadership: What the Next Generation of Leaders Will Look Like

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
In an era of unprecedented technological change, shifting workforce dynamics, and evolving industry pressures, engineering leadership stands at a critical crossroads. The traditional command-and-control approach that once dominated the sector is increasingly being replaced by more adaptive, inclusive, and technology-enabled leadership models. This transformation isn't merely a trend—it's an essential evolution for companies seeking to remain competitive in an increasingly complex global marketplace.

The Hidden Productivity Killers: How Poor Shift Planning, Meeting Overload, and Workplace Distractions Are Draining Your Profits

By Karl Montgomery • March 10, 2025
In the relentless pursuit of efficiency, UK businesses often overlook the subtle yet powerful forces quietly eroding their productivity. While organisations invest millions in cutting-edge technologies and process improvements, the most damaging productivity killers often operate in plain sight—unrecognised, unmeasured, and unaddressed. According to research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) , the UK continues to lag behind other G7 nations in productivity growth, with output per hour worked remaining stubbornly below pre-2008 financial crisis trends. What's particularly concerning is that this productivity gap persists despite significant investments in technology and equipment. So, what's truly holding UK businesses back? Our analysis of current research reveals three pervasive yet frequently overlooked productivity drains: ineffective shift planning, excessive meeting cultures, and persistent workplace distractions. Together, these hidden productivity killers could be costing your business up to £8,500 per employee annually, according to calculations based on CIPD Workplace Productivity Survey data. Let's examine each of these productivity vampires and, more importantly, how to drive a stake through their hearts.

Shift Patterns vs. Productivity: The Science Behind Workforce Scheduling

By Karl Montgomery • March 10, 2025
In UK manufacturing and production facilities, the constant hum of machinery doesn't always match the natural rhythms of the people operating them. As production demands continue to evolve in 2025, the way we structure work hours has profound implications not just for output metrics, but for the humans behind those metrics. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, approximately 3.5 million workers in the UK regularly work shifts, with manufacturing and production industries representing a significant proportion of this figure. Yet despite this prevalence, many operations managers and production directors still rely on outdated scheduling approaches that prioritise machine uptime over human performance. The consequences? Higher turnover rates (manufacturing experiences 15% higher turnover than the UK average according to Make UK's 2023 Labour Turnover Report), increased workplace accidents (37% higher in night shifts according to HSE data), and productivity plateaus that frustrate even the most experienced production managers.  Let's explore what the evidence actually tells us about shift patterns, their impact on your workforce, and how to design schedules that serve both business objectives and employee wellbeing.
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