AI could widen gender gap in UK manufacturing jobs

Beko has commissioned research showing that women in UK manufacturing are concentrated in jobs more exposed to generative AI. The study warns that AI adoption could deepen existing gender imbalances in the sector.

It found that 41.1% of women's manufacturing employment in the UK is in occupations exposed to generative AI, compared with 23.6% of men's. Although women make up 27.8% of the manufacturing workforce, they account for 63.4% of workers in the most exposed jobs, largely in administrative roles where they outnumber men.

Sales and customer service roles were also identified as having significant exposure, with women making up half of the workforce in those occupations. The study was authored by Zoi Roupakia, Founder and Director of Noetic AI, and combined a survey of 890 UK manufacturing professionals with analysis of official employment data and occupational AI exposure data.

Exposure gap

The findings add to a wider debate over how generative AI will affect work across British industry. In manufacturing, where women remain underrepresented overall, the report argues that the way employers introduce AI into business and management processes will determine whether existing inequalities are reduced or reinforced.

Survey data showed women were more likely than men to believe AI bias harms employee wellbeing, pay, job opportunities, and diversity and inclusion. They were also less likely to trust AI-driven decisions, with 32.1% expressing trust compared with 42.9% of men.

Similar shares of women and men reported having witnessed AI bias, at 24.7% and 22.0% respectively. But women were more likely to identify flawed hiring decisions and the loss of talent through recruitment or promotion decisions as possible consequences.

The study also found that 24.4% of women, compared with 10.2% of men, saw the limited representation of women in both the AI industry and manufacturing as a key barrier to addressing AI bias. Concern about AI-related pay inequality was also high among younger women, with 34.9% of women aged 22 to 29 expressing concern, compared with 39.0% of women in their 50s.

Workplace awareness

Most respondents said they did not know what their employer was doing to address AI bias. The research found that 58% were unaware of any measures their company was taking, while around half of both women and men believed their employer was doing too little to prepare for AI.

There was, however, broad agreement on transparency, with 87% of both women and men saying they wanted AI systems to be more transparent.

The report also found that greater organisational preparedness was linked to higher trust in AI-driven decisions, though not to lower concern about pay and job opportunities. This suggests training and readiness may improve confidence in AI without resolving wider concerns about fairness and progression.

One respondent, identified as a female senior manager at a manufacturing SME, described an instance of apparent bias in recruitment. "When sifting through CVs for a technical managerial position, AI seemed to prefer proposing male candidates. When I double-checked AI's recommendations for the position, I found a more suitable female candidate did exist among the CVs supplied," she said.

Company response

Beko said the findings had informed changes to its responsible AI and people policies. It is using the report to strengthen work on governance, risk assessment, auditing, monitoring, training and employee oversight related to AI use.

Roupakia said the research should not be read as evidence that AI is directly displacing women from manufacturing jobs. "It's important to be clear that this report does not conclude that AI is taking women's jobs in manufacturing. Rather, it shows that women are disproportionately represented in some of the occupations most exposed to AI-driven task change, which could affect how they work. The most exposed roles are not on the production line: they are in administrative and customer service occupational groups where women outnumber men in UK manufacturing.

"Adoption still remains at an early stage, so the decisions that will determine whether AI widens or narrows opportunities for women are being made now, in how employers introduce the technology, redesign work and govern these systems. To avoid 'the default setting', we must ensure that AI adoption widens access to skills, fair treatment, participation and progression, rather than reproducing existing inequalities in the structure of work," she said.

Teresa Arbuckle, Regional Managing Director of Beko UK & Ireland, said manufacturers should not pursue efficiency at the expense of representation. "AI, used in partnership with human expertise and decision-making, presents a significant opportunity to help manufacturing businesses become more efficient and productive. But this should not come at the cost of greater representation. We need to take everyone on this journey, regardless of gender, and we want to see more women enter manufacturing businesses and continue to progress into leadership and specialist roles. This report sets out a blueprint for how we can achieve both goals, without one undermining the other," she said.