What automation skills are hardest for employers to find?

Employers especially struggle to find professionals who combine strong PLC and controls skills with robotics, SCADA, networking, functional safety, OT cybersecurity, or data and IIoT capability. Commissioning experience and dual-platform fluency are also scarce.

Why are these skills in short supply?

An aging skilled workforce, rapid technology change, and training that has not kept pace have created gaps, especially for roles blending controls with data and IT. That scarcity means opportunity for those who build the skills.

How can I become one of these hard-to-find professionals?

Deepen a major PLC platform, add a scarce specialization such as robotics, safety, networking, or OT security, gain commissioning experience, and keep a strong verifiable profile. Rare combinations are the most valuable.

How do I connect with employers who need these skills?

Automate America is a marketplace where companies post automation jobs, contracts, and RFQs for free and verified North American professionals apply directly. List your scarce skills so employers facing the gap can find you.

Top 10 Automation Skills Employers Can't Find in 2026

Every week, companies post contracts on Automate America looking for professionals with specific automation skills. Some positions fill within days. Others sit open for weeks — not because the rates are low, but because the people with those skills simply don't exist in sufficient numbers. The training pipeline produces roughly one-quarter of the automation professionals that industry demands. That gap is widening. Here are the ten skills with the biggest demand-supply mismatch in 2026. ## 1. Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Programming Demand Level: Extreme. Bill Rate Range: $75-$135/hr. This is the single most requested skill on Automate America. Allen-Bradley controls roughly 60% of North American PLCs. Experienced ControlLogix programmers (10+ years) are retiring faster than new ones enter the field. ## 2. Safety PLC Programming (GuardLogix / Safety-S7) Demand Level: Very High. Bill Rate Range: $90-$135/hr. TUV-certified safety programmers who can design SIL-rated systems from scratch are exceptionally rare. Every new machine line, every retrofit, every safety audit creates demand. ## 3. Siemens TIA Portal / S7-1500 Demand Level: High. Bill Rate Range: $70-$120/hr. Companies upgrading from legacy S7-300/400 to the S7-1500 platform need programmers who understand both old and new. ## 4. FANUC Robot Programming (Advanced) Demand Level: High. Bill Rate Range: $65-$120/hr. Basic teach pendant operation isn't hard to find. What's scarce: advanced offline programming, multi-robot coordination, iRVision integration. ## 5. SCADA / HMI Design (Ignition, FactoryTalk, WinCC) Demand Level: High. Bill Rate Range: $75-$125/hr. SCADA sits at the intersection of controls engineering and IT. Ignition by Inductive Automation is the fastest-growing platform. ## 6. Industrial Cybersecurity (OT Security) Demand Level: Growing Rapidly. Bill Rate Range: $85-$135/hr. ISA/IEC 62443 compliance, network segmentation for industrial control systems. The talent pool is tiny. ## 7. Vision Systems Integration (Cognex, Keyence) Demand Level: Medium-High. Bill Rate Range: $70-$115/hr. Machine vision is embedded in everything — quality inspection, barcode reading, robot guidance. ## 8. Electrical & Instrumentation (E&I) with PLC Troubleshooting Demand Level: High. Bill Rate Range: $52-$95/hr. The classic multi-skilled maintenance technician who can read P&IDs, troubleshoot 4-20mA loops, AND diagnose PLC faults. ## 9. Motion Control and Servo Systems Demand Level: Medium. Bill Rate Range: $75-$120/hr. Precision manufacturing depends on servo-driven systems. Allen-Bradley Kinetix, Siemens SINAMICS, B&R Automation, Beckhoff. ## 10. 6G Pipe Welding (AWS Certified) Demand Level: High. Bill Rate Range: $70-$95/hr. Pipe welders work alongside automation professionals on every process plant project. The certification failure rate keeps supply low. ## What This Means for Your Career The talent gap isn't closing. If you're a professional, specialize where the gap is widest. Safety PLC programming, dual-platform PLC skills, and industrial cybersecurity have the most pricing power. If you're a company, post your contract on Automate America and tap into 8,000+ professionals searchable by skill, location, and availability.