Fluke Finds 78% of Tech Obstacles are Linked to Skills Gaps

Skills shortages remain the primary barrier to manufacturers’ digital maturity, according to new research from Fluke Corporation.

The findings place workforce capability – not technology spend – at the centre of transformation outcomes.

Data from its survey also showed an increase in uptake of predictive maintenance software, signalling momentum on the technology front even as people's capabilities lag.

McKinsey says that as AI-led transformations accelerate, the gap between the skills workforces possess and the skills they will need is widening faster than organisations’ ability to adapt.

The majority of all reported obstacles

Fluke says the data points to a growing disconnect between technology adoption and workforce readiness – an execution risk squarely within HR’s remit.

The results show skills-related challenges accounting 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.”

The manufacturing skills gap

A McKinsey report notes that advanced industrial manufacturers worldwide continue to grapple with workforce and labour challenges that are overturning long‑standing assumptions about steady talent supply and baseline skill proficiency.

For senior HR leaders, the implication is clear: labour market volatility is no longer a cyclical issue but a structural constraint on transformation.

A study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute (MI) estimates manufacturers will need to hire as many as 3.8 million workers by 2033, with as many as 1.9 million roles potentially going unfilled due to skills gaps.

Against this backdrop – and with Fluke’s data highlighting lack of expertise and knowledge shortages among the most pressing operational barriers – manufacturers are intensifying efforts to close capability gaps in parallel with technology adoption. 

Training efforts in the US Workforce training are widely recognised as the most effective lever to address the gap.

Google recently announced US$10 million in funding for the MI to support the US workforce in what it calls “a new era of industrial innovation,” an initiative designed to narrow the divide between rapid technological advances and workforce readiness.

For HR chiefs, such cross‑sector partnerships signal a practical route to scalable upskilling, credentialing and talent pipeline development that keeps transformation on schedule.

The funding is designed to equip 40,000 current and future manufacturing employees with AI skills. 

Wider efforts to ramp up training are gaining momentum. According to the MI’s State of Workforce Training in Manufacturing report, released in April of 2026, 54.4% of firms were increasing current workforce training efforts – an indication that capability building is moving up the leadership agenda alongside capital investment.

Predictive maintenance doubles

Fluke’s survey, conducted by Censuswide, captured responses from more than 600 senior decision-makers and maintenance professionals in the US, the UK and Germany across the Food and Beverage, Oil and Gas, Life Sciences and Automotive sectors.

The data showed that adoption of predictive maintenance doubled from 9% to 16%.

Technology momentum is accelerating, even as workforce readiness remains the rate‑limiting factor.

Vineet Thuvara, Chief Product Officer at Fluke Corporation, says: “The progress is encouraging, but it’s not enough yet.” For HR chiefs, the mandate is clear: align AI skilling, credentialing and frontline adoption with maintenance modernisation to turn technology uptake into measurable performance gains.

“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 across the organisation, not in isolation.”

For senior HR leaders, this shift elevates the mandate from piloting tools to orchestrating enterprise-wide adoption – through capability building, role redesign and change leadership that enables cross-functional integration.

The value will come from consistent practices, shared data standards and a workforce confident working alongside advanced maintenance technologies.

Other key findings from Fluke

Fluke’s data shows that 72% of organisations now allocate 16% to 30% of their maintenance budgets to new technologies, marking a move away from exploratory AI, which accounted for 44% of maintenance budgets in 2024.

Investment is pivoting to operational priorities such as cybersecurity, data management and both generative and industrial AI – areas that demand targeted skills in data literacy, cyber awareness and AI-enabled workflows.

The research also indicates that 49% of respondents plan to advance connected reliability initiatives within the next 12 months.

For HR chiefs, the window to align talent pipelines, credentialing and frontline training with these priorities is now, ensuring adoption scales with the right capabilities, governance and culture to sustain performance gains.