Industrial Engineering Recruitment UK: The Specialist Guide
From the ARG team — specialist industrial and manufacturing engineering recruiters operating across the UK.
The Industrial Engineering Skills Gap
UK manufacturing is facing a structural engineering skills shortage. An ageing workforce, reduced apprenticeship uptake in the 2010s, and rapid automation adoption have created demand that the candidate market cannot easily meet. Multi-skilled engineers with automation experience — particularly PLC programming and SCADA — are the hardest to find.
Generalist recruitment agencies fail here because they don't understand the difference between a reactive maintenance engineer and a predictive/autonomous maintenance specialist. They post the job and hope. ARG identifies, approaches, and qualifies.
Roles Most In Demand (2025–2026)
- Multi-Skilled Maintenance Engineer — typically £38–52k + shifts
- Electrical Maintenance Engineer — 17th/18th edition, typically £40–55k
- Automation / Controls Engineer — PLC, SCADA, typically £45–65k
- Engineering Manager — typically £55–80k
- Production / Manufacturing Manager — typically £55–75k
- Continuous Improvement Manager (Lean/Six Sigma) — typically £55–75k
- Health & Safety Manager — typically £45–65k
- Shift Engineer — rotating shifts, typically £38–50k
Key Hiring Challenges
Automation Skills Shortage
PLC-capable engineers are in critically short supply. Siemens TIA Portal, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi and Beckhoff experience are all sought. Candidates with genuine automation depth can choose their employer.
Shift Pattern Resistance
Candidates increasingly resist rotating shift patterns, particularly post-pandemic. Employers offering continental shifts or days-only see dramatically higher application volumes.
Retention and Counteroffers
Industrial engineers are highly counteroffer-prone. ARG qualifies motivation carefully before submission to avoid placing candidates who will take a counteroffer within 30 days.
Salary Drift
Engineering salaries have risen 15–25% since 2021. Many clients are benchmarking against pre-inflation data. This leads to off-market offers that lose strong candidates to competitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What industrial sectors does ARG recruit for?
We recruit across food & beverage, automotive, FMCG, chemical processing, pharmaceutical, packaging, and general manufacturing.
Can ARG recruit shift-based engineers?
Yes. We are experienced in recruiting for rotating continental, 4-on-4-off, and nights-only patterns. We always pre-qualify shift tolerance before submission.
Does ARG recruit automation/PLC engineers?
Yes. This is one of our highest-demand sub-specialisms. We have candidates with Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi and Beckhoff PLC experience in our Candidate Cloud.
How do you handle counteroffers?
We address counteroffer probability during candidate qualification. If a candidate is purely money-motivated with a strong employer relationship, we advise clients early so they can make competitive offers from the start.
Recruiting Industrial Engineers?
Talk to a specialist. Not a generalist who happens to have engineers on a database.