The Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda has committed $22.7 billion over the next decade to rebuild sovereign manufacturing capability, capture low-carbon supply-chain opportunities and lift advanced industry productivity. Yet money alone will not solve the worker shortages that have persisted since COVID-19. Even after a 4.5 per cent fall in the February quarter, there were still more than 15,000 unfilled manufacturing positions and vacancy rates remained 44 per cent higher than before the pandemic.
Although the proportion of vacant jobs in Australia decreased to 2 per cent in March, that headline masks deep, persistent shortages in key trades and technician roles. Unless industry and government tackle the root causes, the Future Made in Australia investments risk running into a human-capital wall.
Qualitative research conducted by the Australian Cobotics Centre’s (ACC’s) Human-Robot Workforce Research Program and presented at the 2025 AIRAANZ conference by postdoctoral researcher Dr Melinda Laundon was based on interviews with 23 senior stakeholders across government, industry bodies, unions, and education providers. The research highlights three intertwined problems contributing to why enough workers aren’t joining or staying in the manufacturing sector.
- Earnings quality. At the sector level, manufacturing pay has struggled to keep pace with construction and transport, and is eclipsed by mining.
- Job security perceptions. Although views are changing to recognise that automation can make jobs safer and more interesting and increase production capacity, some workers still worry that automation may remove jobs.
- Working environment. Rigid shift patterns sit awkwardly beside the flexibility many Australians tasted during the pandemic. Under-investment in training may also leave employees uncertain about career progression.
The research suggests some policy and organisational actions that may reduce labour shortages by improving job quality, attraction and retention. Stakeholders argued that raising hourly rates is necessary but not sufficient; manufacturers also need to:
- Provide up-skilling pathways. Investing in training for robotics, programming and digital twins both raises earnings potential and signals that workers have a future in the firm.
- Design human-centric technology deployments. Cobots can augment dirty, dangerous and highly repetitive tasks, reducing physical strain and freeing people for higher-value problem-solving.
- Embed employee voice. Involving operators in the redesign of workflows and role changes builds trust and ensures that cobots and other advanced manufacturing technologies can be implemented in a way that enhances job quality.
These suggestions align with the government’s Industry 4.0 ambitions yet remain challenging for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that make up 98 per cent of Australian manufacturers. Fast turnaround and lower-cost microcredentials can be more accessible for SME owners and workers. Government and industry associations also have a role to play in promoting a manufacturing career narrative, highlighting success stories and the capacity for workers to move to tech-enabled roles with higher pay and autonomy.
The ACC partners with manufacturers and technology providers to pilot human-robot solutions in real manufacturing contexts, drawing on expertise from design, engineering, quality assurance, and people management researchers. For governments rolling out Future Made in Australia programs and organisations considering cobot adoptions, it shows how technology adoption can lift productivity and job quality, not trade one off against the other.