Fluke Study: Manufacturing Skills Gap Stalls AI Maturity

Skills shortages present the biggest obstacle to manufacturers’ digital maturity, according to Fluke Corporation’s latest survey.

The company says the data shows a growing disconnect between technology adoption and workforce readiness across major industrial sectors.

Skills-related challenges account for approximately 78% of all reported obstacles, including lack of expertise, knowledge shortages and skilled labour gaps.

Parker Burke, Group President at Fluke Corporation, says: “Our findings show that reliability and workforce skills are now the critical factors in converting technology spend into measurable operational improvement. 

“We need a solution to the skills shortage to supplement technology investment for the best results.”

Workforce training accelerates

The pressure is building across advanced manufacturers as capability needs shift with AI-enabled operations.

McKinsey research states that the gap between current workforce skills and those required is widening faster than organisations can adapt.

A Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute (MI) study projects manufacturers will need to hire as many as 3.8 million workers by 2033. It warns that 1.9 million roles could go unfilled due to skills gaps.

With expertise and knowledge shortages prominent in Fluke’s data, manufacturers are accelerating training to build critical competencies.

In the US, workforce training is gaining support from industry and big tech. Google announced US$10m in 2026 for the MI to equip 40,000 current and future manufacturing employees with AI skills.

The MI’s State of Workforce Training in Manufacturing report, released in April 2026, finds 54.4% of firms are increasing training for their current workforce.

Predictive maintenance adoption doubles

Fluke’s survey, conducted by Censuswide, captured insights from more than 600 senior decision-makers and maintenance professionals in the US, the UK and Germany.

Respondents represented food and beverage, oil and gas, life sciences and automotive industries.

The data shows adoption of predictive maintenance almost doubled from 9% to 16%, signalling momentum around reliability-led digital value.

Vineet Thuvara, Chief Product Officer at Fluke Corporation, says: “The progress is encouraging, but it is not enough yet. Predictive maintenance is no longer a future ambition: it is the baseline. 

“Manufacturers’ next challenge is scaling adoption and integrating it across the organisation, ensuring these capabilities work in harmony, not in isolation.”

Shift towards operational AI and security

Fluke reports that 72% of organisations now allocate 16-30% of their maintenance budgets to new technologies.

Spending is moving away from exploratory AI, which accounted for 44% of maintenance budgets in 2024, towards operational priorities.

These priorities include cybersecurity, data management and both gen AI and industrial AI that support day-to-day performance.

Nearly half of respondents plan to advance connected reliability initiatives within the next 12 months, indicating a focus on scalable, cross-site implementation.