Is a talent shortage quietly holding your growth back?

Across the battery industry, momentum is building. Investment is flowing, technology is maturing, and the ambition to scale is stronger than ever.

But many leadership teams are asking themselves a quiet but critical question:

Do we have the people in place to deliver what’s ahead?

Recent data suggests they’re right to ask.

Talent is emerging as the defining constraint

The latest Battery Talent Census found that over 50% of professionals in the industry are actively seeking new opportunities. Average tenure is now just 2.3 years, and the hardest roles to fill are those central to scaling and delivery process engineering, production, quality, and integration.

At Optima UK, we work alongside high-growth businesses every day supporting recruitment for gigafactories, innovation hubs, and supply chain scale-ups. And what we’re hearing is consistent:

Technical roles are taking longer to fill
Retention is getting harder
The talent pipeline isn’t matching the pace of scale

These aren’t recruitment issues. They’re growth risks.

A growing gap between ambition and capability

Many of the companies we support are not short on ambition. What they’re missing is bandwidth, the right capability at the right time, across engineering, manufacturing, leadership, and operations.

We see this play out in three ways:

Organisations growing faster than their hiring infrastructure
Teams overstretched trying to onboard and deliver simultaneously
Emerging leaders promoted for technical skill but needing support to lead

Often, these challenges aren’t visible on a Gantt chart but they’re felt in missed milestones, project risk, and team fatigue.

Students are keen, but not always aligned

One of the most surprising findings from the Census is the disconnect between education and industry need.

55% of students aim for research roles
0% mentioned manufacturing or scale-up as their first-choice career path
Yet these are precisely the roles industry is struggling to fill

We’re working with organisations to rethink not only how they hire, but how they engage emerging talent early through internships, graduate pathways, and clearer progression frameworks.

So what can be done?

Leaders who are making progress are taking a more strategic approach to workforce planning. That means:

Hiring for capability, not just credentials
Investing in onboarding and early retention, not just attraction
Creating clearer progression pathways, especially for technical talent
Building teams that scale with the business, not just support it

We’re supporting clients in building out new production functions, restructuring engineering teams, and placing commercial leads who can bridge technical innovation with market delivery.

This isn’t just about filling roles, it’s about building resilience.

Partnering to build the workforce you need

At Optima UK, we bring a practical, real-world understanding of the challenges you’re facing. From first plant hires to operational leaders, we help businesses:

Secure hard-to-find talent
Retain critical knowledge
Align people strategy with delivery timelines

We believe that workforce design and recruitment should support, not stall, scale. And we’re here to help you make that a reality.

If your growth plan is sound but delivery feels constrained, now might be the time to ask:

Are we resourced for where we are – or where we’re going?

Let’s talk.

Larraine Boorman is CEO of Optima UK, a specialist talent consultancy working with battery, cleantech, and industrial leaders across the UK and Europe. Learn more at optima-uk.com.