Automation is no longer a distant prospect but a present-day operational driver for Europe’s industrial base. New research from Universal Robots, published in The State of Industrial Automation Report 2025, finds that 84 percent of employees now express a positive attitude toward robot implementation — a marked shift from historic resistance narratives that dominated early automation debate.
The survey, which gathered responses from 2,174 professionals across eight European countries, indicates that automation adoption has entered a mature phase. Only 3 percent of respondents reported resistance to robotics integration, while 93 percent of industrial leaders expect at least 10 percent of their workforce to be working alongside cobots within the next decade. Nearly half anticipate that more than a quarter of employees will do so.
Productivity remains the principal driver. Sixty-eight percent of respondents ranked productivity gains among their top three investment motivations, while 89 percent of companies using cobots reported measurable output improvements. More than half (52 percent) saw productivity increase by 10–25 percent, and 30 percent achieved gains of up to 50 percent — a strong indication that collaborative automation is paying off.
Workforce dynamics are also evolving. Over half of those surveyed (51 percent) believe robots will create more jobs than they displace by 2030, while 91 percent expect cobots to reduce labour shortages by at least 10 percent. The data reinforces the view that automation, far from eliminating work, is reshaping it — moving employees into higher-value, less repetitive tasks and addressing chronic gaps in skilled labour across Europe’s manufacturing base.
“Europe’s industrial sector is undergoing a major transition as businesses confront geopolitical instability, inflation, ageing workforces, and supply chain challenges,” said Mark Gray, UK & Ireland Country Manager at Universal Robots. “Automation has shifted from long-term goal to immediate priority, with companies investing in robotics, AI, and analytics to boost productivity, quality, and resilience.”
Across the region, the most optimistic adoption profiles are emerging in sectors such as automotive and engineering, where more than 95 percent of respondents expect a portion of their workforce to work alongside cobots by 2035. However, cost remains a key barrier for some markets. Around one in three UK respondents cited initial investment as the primary obstacle to automation, compared with 29 percent across Europe — reflecting national sensitivities around capital expenditure.
While challenges persist, the wider trend is that automation is becoming an operational norm. As the report notes, cobots are proving to be both practical tools for near-term productivity and catalysts for long-term workforce transformation — signalling that Europe’s industrial future will be defined not by robots replacing people, but by people working more effectively with them.
The full report is available here.
