The proportion of food manufacturers hiring for jobs related to industrial automation is on the rise, according to GlobalData analysis.

In October, some 58.3% of the companies included in the research were recruiting for at least one such position.

This latest figure was higher than the 52% of companies who were hiring in the field a year ago. It represented a slight decrease compared to the figure of 59.8% in September 2021.

When it came to the rate of all job openings that were linked to industrial automation, related job postings rose in October 2021, with 5% of newly-posted ads being linked to the topic.

This latest figure was the highest monthly figure recorded in the past year and is an increase compared to the 4.7% of newly advertised jobs that were linked to industrial automation in the equivalent month a year ago.

Industrial automation is one of the topics that GlobalData, from which our data for this article is taken, has identified as being a key disruptive force facing companies in the coming years. Companies that excel and invest in these areas now are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

Our analysis of the data shows food manufacturers are hiring for industrial automation jobs at a rate lower than the average for all companies across the industries measured within GlobalData’s job analytics database. The average among all companies stood at 5.8% in October 2021.

GlobalData’s database tracks the daily hiring patterns of thousands of companies across the world, drawing in jobs as they're posted and tagging them with additional layers of data on everything from the seniority of each position to whether a job is linked to wider industry trends.