Machine-builder survey reveals skills crisis on both sides of the Atlantic
30 June 2025 
A survey of more than 300 machine-builders in Europe and North America has revealed a widespread skills shortage with 79% of the respondents reporting that the issue is having a significant, or very significant, impact on their operations. The survey was conducted for Eaton by S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 Research, which has published a report based on the findings that examines the extent of the skills gap and its implications for the machine-building sector, as well as suggesting some possible mitigation measures.
The report – called The impact of the labour shortage on machine-builders – says that machine-builders on both sides of the Atlantic face “unprecedented challenges” as they are having to cope with a growing demand for increasingly complex industrial machinery, at the same time as the pool of skilled machine-building workers is shrinking.
The survey found that a third of machine-building companies have up to 25% of their job positions unfilled. A majority (60%) report that 1–10% of their positions are currently vacant. And around 40% reckon that the skills shortage has cut their productivity by 11–25%.
Skills shortages are also affecting the machine-builders’ customers. The report suggests that high-performance machines could reduce users’ machine management and maintenance requirements, easing the impact of the skills shortages and cutting their running costs.
New business models, such as offering products as a service, may hold some of the answers for machine-builders and their customers, while increasing budgets for training and upskilling may also be part of the answer.
The report says that designing and building easy-to-use, high-performance machines to replace ageing technologies and labour-intensive work processes will move the industry forward.
“The machine-builders that can overcome the ongoing skills-gap-based challenges will be better positioned competitively in the long term,” suggests David Immerman, consulting analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 Research.
“This report is a wake-up call, showing how the labour shortage is one of the biggest challenges facing the machine-building industry in both North America and Europe,” says Simone Gardosi, who leads Eaton’s machine-building segment in the EMEA region. “It is a global problem that requires the global solutions we are able to provide for our machine-building customers.”
“Machine-builders are directly affected by skills shortages, but they also hold the key to helping their customers overcome the adverse effects of the labour crunch,” adds Molly Jenks, Eaton’s vice-president of segments for North American sales. “We can help them to design and build easy-to-use and high-performing machines for their customers, as well as increase their speed in delivering new machines to market.”
The survey data was drawn from 300 machine-building experts working in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands. They were involved in a variety of sectors including electrical equipment; HVAC systems; material-handling; food and beverage; agricultural equipment; and pumps and compressors.
