UK robotics brain drain is reversing: ROSCon UK booth flooded with job seekers
stepjamUK · x · 2026-11-03
The Neuracore team argues after ROSCon UK in Edinburgh that the old "UK robotics talent leaves for the Valley" narrative should be retired. The most common question at their booth wasn't about the product — it was "can I come work with you?", from robot learning engineers, finishing PhD students, and engineers already shipping robots.
Three facts against the brain-drain story:
- Direction of travel is flipping: more tech workers now move from the US to Europe than the reverse, and the UK is among the biggest gainers. ROSCon UK drew 240 people, 42 companies, 21 universities, half industry and half academia.
- Money is following: UK robotics companies raised $258m by August 2026, already exceeding all of 2025.
- Research moving toward deployment: ARIA's Robot Dexterity programme backs 26 teams across hardware, manipulation and control, increasingly focused on turning breakthroughs into real-world systems.
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