AUTOMATION AND CONSOLIDATION: THE 2023 TRENDS AFFECTING  FOOD MANUFACTURING

With a new year come new trends for the ever-changing food manufacturing space. Following the rise of new technology and the unstable UK economy, every layer of the food distribution chain – from the manufacturer all the way to the consumer – will see knock-on effects. Of course, with this comes shifts in teams and, therefore, fresh recruitment trends, with consolidation and automation proving to have far-reaching impacts on hiring trends in 2023.

Consolidation 

 As with every sector out there, one of the major forces impacting the food manufacturing space is the period of lower growth the UK market is currently seeing. While consumers tighten their belts, trends in spending and food choices are shifting on the supermarket floor, leading consumers away from convenience and indulgent shopping choices.  A drop in product-specific sales for retailers leads to changing forecasts and the gradual decline in orders to manufacturers. With manufacturers already working to tight margins, this shift in orders has us already seeing many British manufacturers looking to do dramatically more with less and consolidating their supply chains and manufacturing footprints. With many manufacturing businesses deciding to restructure, condense and consolidate their workflow to improve costs and efficiencies, such as moving multiple business locations over to a single factory, we are seeing a boom in the need for new, agile, efficient teams in new locations. At Circle Select, we have been working with businesses navigating this process to source and deliver the teams needed to consolidate their business processes. As a talent partner, our industry-specific experience has allowed us to become experts in the manufacturing space, ready to share key insights with our clients. Meanwhile, our bundling and contract pop-up services have allowed us to source and bring together the agile and unique talent that businesses need with a consistent bespoke approach. 

 Automation  

A second major trend we are seeing across the food manufacturing space – and just about every other sector along with it – is a real surge in automation. With new technology being made increasingly available and even more affordable, food manufacturers across the globe are choosing to automate as many labour-intensive key processes as possible to future-proof their businesses.  While the transition and initial implementation is carried out, businesses need specialist contract pop up teams to implement the engineering upgrades and associated change management. At Circle Select, we have been supporting manufacturers in making the crucial shift by sourcing the unique pop-up contract teams required with a bespoke approach.  Across both consolidation and automation projects, hiring project managers must get to grips with the realistic project size and timescales to allow talent partners to work collaboratively to build out the right team.  With those deliverables in mind, we have been committed to sourcing unique candidates to form the unified teams needed for businesses to thrive in 2023’s changing market. Our products are tried, tested, and backed by industry-specific expertise, allowing us to support manufacturers across the country to excel into 2023.  

You find out more about our bundling and contract pop-up offerings here.