On the Hunt for Work at Automate 2025: A Recruiter Offers Perspective

Trade shows open doors when you’re scoping out current skills and where the job opportunities are. The organizers of Automate 2025, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), prepared a stream of educational events geared towards skills development.

A3’s program offers a wealth of resources for workforce training and advancement prospects. For instance, at the Education Pavilion, visitors could explore career paths in automation. The A3 NextGen Student Tours are free educational tours and foster opportunities for students to share their resumes with select automation companies exhibiting at the show. In addition a job board can be found on the Exhibitors Currently Hiring page.

The automation and robotics trade fair is a veritable stomping ground for professional recruiters like Alex Richardson. As a founding partner at Holden Richardson, a boutique executive search firm, Richardson knows firsthand the value of attending shows like Automate, which this year is located in Detroit, Mich.

With 20 years of recruiting experience, Richardson has served automotive and diversified manufacturing clients, including original equipment manufacturers, tier one and tier two parts suppliers, engineering service providers and aftermarket manufacturers.

It goes without saying that Richardson’s plans extended well beyond the great networking. “It’s always valuable to see these advanced manufacturing companies showcase their technologies in person—there’s no substitute for experiencing them up close to truly understand the exciting future for the manufacturing industry,” he said.

Machine Design: What is needed for companies to attract a new generation of manufacturing leadership?

Alex Richardson: Introducing future leaders and potential candidates to the opportunities that high-tech manufacturing offers can help change or shape the mindset of those entering the workforce or considering career options. It comes down to changing the perception of what manufacturing is like today and educating job candidates about exciting career opportunities.

Factories are very different today than even a decade ago. Modern plants use a wide range of advanced technologies, such as AI, robotics and automation. To attract this next generation of manufacturing leadership, companies will need to define where they are in their Lean journey and set clear expectations about the skills required.

MD: Are you observing more internal promotions at organizations, or are companies looking externally for suitable candidates?

AR: Companies are increasingly looking outside their organizations to find candidates for mid-level leadership positions in advanced manufacturing facilities. As Baby Boomers and Generation X workers approach retirement age, many companies are struggling to backfill manufacturing leadership roles internally.

Smart companies are getting ahead of this trend by recruiting next-generation factory leaders and placing talent in assistant plant manager or assistant general manager roles to develop them for future leadership positions. These development roles were largely eliminated during the financial crisis but are now trending as companies face the realities of pending succession issues.

We expect to see a rise in internal promotions as companies continue to rebuild these talent pipelines and develop experienced leadership for mid-level employees. However, this will take time. Companies that have already started to plan for future operational leadership will have an advantage in the talent market.

MD: What specific engineering skills and certifications are in demand for leadership roles in advanced manufacturing and automation?

AR: Advanced manufacturing and automation encompass a broad range of technologies. Leaders in these plants need a range of specific skills and training for individual technologies as well as the more traditional skillsets in business and leadership. Some of the skills and certifications that we see the greatest demand for include:

Industrial automation and controls, such as PLC programming, SCADA and HMI system design and robotics integration
Systems engineering across mechanical, electrical and software to design, integrate and manage a range of manufacturing technologies
Predictive maintenance using AI to identify and address issues before failure
Experience managing Industry 4.0 technologies, such as 3D printing, digital twins or cloud computing
Training or experience in lean manufacturing systems, such as TPS

MD: What are the top five in-demand engineer roles?

AR: The top engineering roles are heavily focused on high-tech production, so the skills needed are similar to those needed for effective advanced manufacturing leadership. Today’s manufacturers are commonly seeking candidates to fill positions, such as:

Controls engineer
Automation engineer
Materials engineer
Manufacturing engineer
Industrial/process engineer
Data/AI engineer

MD: Which advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies are driving demand for specialized engineering talent?

AR: The increase in advanced robotics and automation is driving the skills and certifications that are needed in today’s manufacturing plants. This is a trend that we expect will continue as policymakers push for an increase in manufacturing in the U.S. at a time when the labor market remains tight and U.S. labor costs remain higher than in other countries.

In addition to robotics, we are seeing additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, play a larger role in manufacturing, which comes with its own set of required programming and operational skills and training. 3D printing requires a different approach to everything from design to post-production. That, in turn, creates a need for engineering and plant leaders who are familiar with the technology and design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) to ensure production can run smoothly.

Regardless of the specific production technologies a manufacturer employs in their plants, advanced manufacturing requires enterprise resource planning (ERP) to ensure everything runs smoothly and operates as a functional, efficient system.

For more show coverage, be sure to check out Machine Design’s Automate 2025 content hub.

Editor’s Note: Machine Design’s WISE (Workers in Science and Engineering) hub compiles our coverage of workplace issues affecting the engineering field, in addition to contributions from equity seeking groups and subject matter experts within various subdisciplines.