Skills shortages and robotics: the challenge reshaping Europe’s metalworking shops

Labour and Skills Shortage Index insights

Many companies in the metalworking sector have long reported difficulties in finding suitably qualified technical personnel, especially for roles tied to production, maintenance, and machine operation. To understand how much this is perception and how much is supported by evidence, it is helpful to look at the Labour and Skills Shortage Index (LSSI) developed by Cedefop, the European Union agency specializing in vocational training and skills development.

For the category Metal, machinery and related trades workers, the index assigns values of 1-1-3 across the three dimensions analyzed — demand, supply, and mismatch — on a scale from 1 (“low pressure”) to 4 (“high pressure”). The combined reading shows that labor demand and supply remain relatively stable, while the main issue lies in the gap between required and available skills.

In other words, the challenge is not the number of workers on the market, but whether their competences are aligned with the needs of increasingly automated and digitalized shops. This is where roles such as CNC operators, industrial maintenance technicians, skilled welders, and mechatronics specialists show the widest gap between what companies require and what is currently available.

Automation as a strategic response

In this context, many small and mid-sized metalworking companies are accelerating investments in automation. This trend is clearly visible in global data. According to the World Robotics 2025 report, 542,000 industrial robots were installed in factories worldwide in 2024 — more than twice as many as ten years earlier. Annual installations have exceeded 500,000 units for four consecutive years.

This global surge highlights the acceleration of automation which, while driven primarily by high-output regions (notably Asia), also provides important guidance for US and European SMEs: automation is increasingly becoming a core strategy to maintain competitiveness, efficiency, and production stability.

For companies active in CNC machining, welding, assembly, and beyond, investing in collaborative robots, machine-tending systems, or automated cells is not only about boosting productivity — it is a concrete way to respond to a labor market where qualified skills are becoming harder to find.

New job roles and new responsibilities

The other side of the skills shortage is that technology alone is not enough. Companies investing in robotics must also develop new hybrid roles: operators able to run automated cells, technicians with blended expertise in programming, diagnostics, and electronic maintenance.

This skills mismatch — the divergence between expected capabilities and actual ones — concerns not only the availability of workers but also the adequacy of their preparation. The future of metalworking shops will require broader, more versatile technical profiles capable of enabling technology, not just operating it.

A paradigm shift for competitiveness

The combination of skills shortages and expanding automation represents a strategic crossroads for the entire metalworking supply chain. Companies that manage to integrate technological investments with internal training pathways and structured partnerships with technical schools will be better positioned to ensure operational continuity and more stable production loads. Those who remain tied to traditional organizational models risk amplifying the effects of shortages in qualified personnel.

Essential (and non-exhaustive) references

Cedefop – European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.
Labour and Skills Shortage Index – Briefing Note.
Available at: https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/9202_en.pdf

EURES – European Employment Services.
Labour shortages and surpluses in Europe – comparative analysis of occupational needs across EU countries.
Available at: https://eures.europa.eu/living-and-working/labour-shortages-and-surpluses-europe_en

OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Labour Market Shortages and Labour Market Inequalities.
Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/labour-shortages-and-labour-market-inequalities_14e62ec0-en.html

International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
Global robot demand in factories doubles over 10 years – Press Release.
Available at: https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/global-robot-demand-in-factories-doubles-over-10-years