NEWS n 5 A TEAM OF UK RESEARCHERS has analysed data from almost 27,000 UK manufacturing sites and found that factories that adopt industrial robots for the first time expand their workforces by around 8% in the four years after installation, while those that adopt CNC machines increase employment by roughly 6% over the same period. The researchers, from the London School of Economics’Centre for Economic Performance, also found that the gains appear quickly and persist. “In plain terms,” they say, “productivity effects dominate displacement at the firm level.” The researchers found that robot and CNC use is rising and is concentrated in large plants. Between 2014 and 2023, the proportion of plants using robots doubled from about 4% to 8%, while between 2005 and 2023, the proportion of production plants using CNC machines rose from about 47% to 56%. Because robots are more common in large sites, the share of workers employed at robot-using plants grew faster, from roughly 14% to more than 27%. Scaling up CNCs delivers even bigger gains – and some reorganisation of work. When plants that are already using CNCs add more machines, employment rises by 9% over four years and keeps trending upwards. At the same time, the ratio of workers in manufacturing production to those employed in engineering, design and support, falls gradually (by around 8% over six years). These results are consistent with firms learning how to make the most of automation technologies over time. When experienced firms expand their use of a new technology they are more likely to successfully reorganise their production processes, hence experiencing productivity gains which boost their total employment, but also change the mix of workers that they employ. The researchers – Aniket Baksy, Daniel Chandler and Peter Lambert – found no evidence that more automated firms are taking business away from others in a way that would offset the firm-level gains. If anything, employment by competitors’in the same industry tends to rise after a peer adopts CNCs or robots, and industrylevel “automation waves” are associated with positive or neutral changes in total industry jobs after four years. The researchers say that their findings align with other www.drivesncontrols.com February 2026 recent studies into robots and their impact on labour. In France, for example, one study found that major investments in modern manufacturing plants led to an increase in employment of almost 20% over five years. Another study found that Finnish SMEs receiving technology grants increased their employment by 23%. The LSE researchers suggest three reasons why job numbers might rise after automation technologies are adopted: n Elastic demand and lower prices More efficient plants cut costs, expand output and hire workers. Positive spillovers to peers can arise if total demand grows or if adopters stimulate complementary activity in the supply chain. n New and complementary tasks Automation often frees people from tasks such as set-up, material-handling and repetitive machining, shifting their activities towards programming, quality, maintenance and customer-specific developments. n Learning by doing The bigger effects when firms expand their CNC capacities are consistent with a learning curve: once processes, skills and supplier links are in place, every additional machine yields more. Based on their research, the team suggests that manufacturers should treat CNCs and robots as platforms, not oneoff purchases. They should build the complementary capabilities – programming, maintenance, fixture design and workflow integration – that allow them to redeploy people to higher-value tasks. “Our results suggest the largest returns arrive after you have learned how to use the technology, not on day one,” they say. The LSE researchers have published their findings in a paper that can be downloaded from https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/ abstract.asp?index=11829 THE UK INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION specialist, Loop Technology, is expanding into the US with the opening of a subsidiary in Seattle, Washington. Loop, whose headquarters are Dorchester, has an expertise in machine vision, motion control and industrial robotics. “We have been considering expansion into the US for several years and now it feels the time is right,” says Loop Technology’s US CEO, Alun Reece. “I love the American approach to technological development alongside the desire to succeed. I am really looking forward to strengthening existing relationships and building new ones in America.” Loop’s US presence will facilitate access to the North American market for its technologies, which include its FibreLine system for automated high-speed composite preforming and a new approach to manufacturing composite structures. Other technologies that Loop plans to offer to US customers include: n laser cleaning systems and services, including its automated LoopClean system; n its RoboMach robotic machining system that automates milling, trimming, cutting and drilling operations; and n the IdentifEye automated labelling system which uses 3D vision to label randomly shaped and positioned packages at rates of up to 2,400 labels per hour. Loop Technology was founded in 1998 and employs more than 80 people. It has completed more than 220 projects. UK robotics and automation specialist expands into the US Researchers find automation boosts employment at UK manufacturers Employment before and after adopting industrial robots. The graph compares manufacturing plants that adopt industrial robots to those that do not, and shows the percentage change in employment. Before the robots were installed, the groups had similar employment levels, but after adopting robots, there is a sizable growth in jobs at the plants which adopted them, compared to those that did not, suggesting that the automation technology drove an increased demand for workers. Source: LSE
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