Engineering roles are now the slowest hires in most FMCG and food manufacturing businesses. The pool of experienced controls, automation and multi-skilled maintenance engineers is small, other sectors compete for the same people, and the best candidates rarely answer adverts. This article explains why these roles stall and what the sites that fill them quickly do differently.
The evidence: a shortage on both sides of the Atlantic
In the UK, the IET's 2025 skills survey of 1,316 engineering and technology employers found that 76% struggle to recruit for key roles, and 30% said they lack automation skills. Automation was named, alongside cyber security, as one of the top digital skills employers need for growth.
In the US, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte estimate that manufacturers could need as many as 3.8 million additional employees between 2024 and 2033, and that around 1.9 million of those roles could go unfilled if skills gaps persist. 65% of manufacturers in that study said attracting and retaining talent was their primary business challenge.
Food and drink plants feel this sharply. They need engineers who understand hygienic design, high-speed packing lines and food safety, and they compete with automotive, pharmaceutical and logistics automation for the same controls talent.
Why engineering hires stall
- The pool is small and mostly employed: good engineers are rarely out of work and seldom search job boards
- Shift patterns limit who can move: a candidate on a 4-on-4-off pattern may not take a role on days with a different premium, or vice versa
- Pay is local and visible: engineers know what the site down the road pays, including overtime and call-out
- Long processes lose people: three or four interview stages over several weeks gives a counter-offer time to land
- Vague briefs: "multi-skilled" means different things on different sites; unclear PLC or mechanical requirements waste everyone's time
- Platform specifics: a site running Allen-Bradley wants different experience from one running Siemens, and few candidates are fluent in both
What the fastest-hiring sites do
The sites that hire engineers well treat the process as a sale as much as an assessment. They know what they are offering, they say it plainly, and they move faster than competitors.
A process built for scarce engineering talent:
- Write a specific brief. Name the PLC platforms, line types, shift pattern, premium, overtime expectations and on-call duties.
- Benchmark the total package. Compare base, shift premium, overtime and call-out with nearby sites, not just base salary.
- Go to the candidates. Use a specialist who already knows the engineers in your region; most will not see an advert.
- Two stages, not four. A technical conversation with the engineering manager, then a site visit and final meeting.
- Show the line early. Let candidates see the equipment and meet the team. Engineers judge a site by its kit and its maintenance culture.
- Decide within days. Agree the offer range before interviews start so you can make an offer at the final stage.
- Plan for the counter-offer. Talk about it openly before the offer; it is common for scarce engineers.
Be honest about shifts, overtime and on-call
BLS notes that overtime is common for industrial machinery mechanics and that night and weekend shifts are part of many roles. The same is true in UK food manufacturing. Engineers want to know exactly what they are signing up for: the rota, the premium, how often they will be called in and how overtime is shared. Being specific removes the biggest reason for late withdrawals.
Show the investment plan
Automation engineers move towards sites that are investing. If you have a capital plan for new lines, robotics, MES or a SCADA upgrade, share it at first interview. It tells a controls or automation engineer that they will build skills, not just keep old equipment running. For maintenance and reliability engineers, a credible move from reactive to planned and condition-based maintenance is equally attractive.
Keep the engineers you have
Every engineer who leaves restarts the clock. Exit conversations in engineering usually come back to the same few things: rotas that changed without consultation, overtime that became an expectation, old equipment with no plan to replace it, and pay that drifted behind nearby sites. Regular pay benchmarking, honest rota planning and a visible capital plan are cheaper than a replacement hire.
Grow your own, alongside hiring
No hiring process fixes a structural shortage alone. The sites with the most stable engineering teams also run apprenticeships, upskill mechanical engineers in electrical and PLC work, and give technicians a visible route to engineer and team leader roles. That makes external hiring easier too, because candidates can see a future.
| Role | Why it is hard | What moves candidates |
|---|---|---|
| Controls / automation engineer | Small pool; competition from other sectors; platform-specific skills | New projects, training on new platforms, clear progression |
| Multi-skilled maintenance engineer | Needs both mechanical and electrical; shift pattern lock-in | Competitive shift premium, modern kit, fair overtime |
| Reliability engineer | Few people with CMMS, RCA and condition monitoring depth | Authority to change maintenance strategy |
| Process engineer | Needs food process and continuous improvement experience | Visible capital projects and CI programme |
| Engineering manager | Few candidates with both technical depth and leadership | Budget, team quality and a seat in site leadership |
For UK pay context, Indeed UK's average base salary is £48,349 for controls engineers and £43,524 for maintenance engineers, before shift premium; see our UK FMCG salary guide and the salary guides hub for more. If you are building a whole engineering team for a new site or line, our engineering leadership specialism covers multi-hire projects.
Engineering hiring: common questions
It depends on the platform, location, shift pattern and how competitive the package is. The biggest delays usually come from vague briefs and long interview processes. A specific brief and a two-stage process make the biggest difference.
Yes. The IET's 2025 survey found 76% of UK engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles and 30% lack automation skills. In the US, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte project up to 1.9 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2033.
Common patterns include days, two-shift, three-shift, 4-on-4-off (days and nights) and continental rotas. Most carry a shift premium and some include on-call. Always state the pattern and premium in the advert and brief.
Compare total package. Engineers look at base, shift premium, overtime and call-out together, and they know what nearby sites pay. Advertise the expected annual total where you can.
Many sites do, through electrical upskilling and PLC courses. It takes time, so it works best alongside external hiring rather than instead of it.