I’ve been spotting something interesting in the automation job scene lately. The people everyone’s after aren’t just your standard automation whizzes anymore—they’re pros who mix it up with skills from other fields.
In the hires I’ve helped with recently, companies are going all out for folks who bring automation know-how plus:
- Data Smarts: They don’t just set up systems—they pull useful insights from the numbers.
- Cybersecurity Chops: With everything linked up, they can spot and stop security headaches.
- UX Skills: They make controls that people actually like using.
It makes sense when you think about it. Factories and plants today aren’t just automated—they’re wired together, spitting out data, and blending all kinds of expertise into one big puzzle.
Why Hiring These Folks Is Tricky
This mix of skills is throwing employers for a loop. Here’s what I’ve seen them wrestle with:
- Job Ads That Miss the Mark: They either list a million skills no one has or keep it so vague nobody applies.
- Sizing Up Oddballs: Regular interviews don’t show how a weird background fits automation needs.
- Fighting for Rare Birds: These all-rounders are gold, and every industry wants them.
One factory boss I talked to put it plain: “We need someone who gets robotics and machine learning, but all we find are one-trick ponies.” It’s a real headache.
How Smart Companies Are Nailing It
The ones coming out on top are switching up how they hunt for these pros:
- Grow Your Own
- They grab people who are solid in one area and quick to learn, then train them up.
- A food plant I worked with paired their automation crew with data folks for six months. Now they’ve got a homegrown team with the exact mix they wanted.
- Look Beyond the Usual
- Some of my best placements were wild cards—a video game coder now runs simulations for a car maker, and a UX designer’s building robot controls.
- Bet on Problem Solvers
- Tech changes fast, so they focus on folks who can think on their feet, not just ones who know today’s tools.
Where This Is Headed
I reckon this push for cross-domain skills is only going to get bigger. The automation stars of tomorrow won’t just be automation nerds—they’ll be fixers who pull from all sorts of tech to get the job done.
For companies, that means shaking up how they find and build talent. For job hunters, it’s a nudge to keep learning and pick up new tricks.
Are you chasing automation pros who can do more than one thing? Or maybe you’re in automation and branching out? I’d love to swap stories about what’s working—or not. Hit me up to talk about tackling this shifting scene with SGP Technology.
