COBHAM, UK, Sep 8, 2026 – Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence Business Area and Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing open the 2026 Future Skills Challenge, a global online competition that asks gamers and sim racers to test the data-led instincts advanced manufacturing now runs on.
Young people face a harder route into work at the same time as manufacturers struggle to recruit for increasingly digital engineering roles, and the Challenge sets out to make transferable abilities more visible and encourage diverse talent to explore new paths. The global youth unemployment rate rose to 12.4% in 2025, the equivalent of 67 million people aged 15 to 24. In the UK, the youth unemployment rate reached 16.2% between April and June 2026, while as many as 1.9 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2033.
Manufacturing careers are increasingly digital, yet it can be hard for people to see themselves in those roles because they are not exposed to industry unless its on their doorstep or they are studying engineering. Employers need people who can interpret information, understand complex systems, and make confident decisions as software, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) become more widely used.
Sim racing shows how those abilities transfer. Sim drivers and race engineers use telemetry, simulation, and rapid feedback to understand performance, decide what to change, and learn for the next run. Manufacturing teams – including those building Formula 1 cars – work in a related cycle, using digital twins and production data to improve products and processes in the real world.
Morgan Ashurst, Esports & Gaming Lead, Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing, commented: “Elite sim racing is about far more than the driver’s instincts. Drivers and race engineers work with live data, changing conditions, and constant trade-offs. They have to communicate clearly, learn quickly, and make decisions under pressure.
“Those behaviours have clear relevance in high-performance engineering and modern manufacturing. The Challenge is a chance to test yourself, compete for some brilliant prizes, and discover where a passion for racing or gaming could lead your life.”
With questions crafted by British Mensa, the world’s leading high IQ society, Hexagon and Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing, the Future Skills Challenge takes participants through fast-moving scenarios built on data and logic. Competitors must race against the clock through 10 questions, that will test their speed, analysis, strategy, and problem-solving under pressure. No engineering qualification, manufacturing experience, or competitive racing background is required.
Prizes for the winning contestants include a Fanatec sim rig, a trip to the Red Bull Technology Campus, and a tour of the Oracle Red Bull Racing factory, as well as a range of merchandise and prizes. Take the Future Skills Challenge at: https://win.gs/Hexagon-Future-Skills-competition with entries are open worldwide until 21 October 2026.
Emanuel Viklund, President, Portable Metrology Division, Hexagon, commented: “Young people are looking for meaningful work, while manufacturers need more people who can use data and technology with confidence. Manufacturing has changed enormously, but the routes into it have not evolved as quickly.
“Sim racing helps make that transferable potential visible. The Future Skills Challenge helps people recognise and test abilities they already have.”
More than 1,100 people completed the inaugural Future Skills Challenge in 2025. Its three highest-performing entrants were a Spanish software engineer, a UK rail roster clerk, and a former F1 Esports engineering lead from Germany. Their varied jobs and backgrounds show why a job title reveals only part of someone’s potential.
The 2026 competition will culminate in The Future Skills Forum at MK-7, an invitation-only summit at the Red Bull Technology Campus in Milton Keynes on 17 November 2026. Top-performing entrants will join leaders from manufacturing, education, and technology for the prize presentation, behind-the-scenes access to the campus, and industry panels exploring how the manufacturing industry can reach a wider pool of talent and create clearer routes into increasingly digital and highly rewarding careers.
At the event, Hexagon will also announce its pilot Introduction to Advanced Manufacturing programme, designed to give people with no previous industry experience an accessible first look into modern production careers. Participants will get to see how digital technologies are used to prepare, programme, manufacture and integrate complex components into high-quality products, with opportunities to progress into further introductory learning.
Contestants can enter the Future Skills Challenge are now open entries are open worldwide until 21 October 2026 at: https://win.gs/Hexagon-Future-Skills-competition.
About Future Skills Challenge
The Future Skills Challenge is a global initiative created by Hexagon and Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing. Through an online competition and live event, it helps people discover how their digital abilities and decision-making skills may translate into engineering and advanced manufacturing.
The Challenge connects the data-led world of elite sim racing with the changing demands of industry, where people increasingly work with simulation, measurement, automation, and AI.
About Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing
Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing is Oracle Red Bull Racing’s official esports team, competing at the highest level of virtual motorsport. The team applies the telemetry, analytical discipline, and collaborative decision-making associated with Oracle Red Bull Racing to digital competition. Its 2025 campaign delivered both the F1 Sim Racing Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships.
About Hexagon
Hexagon is the global leader in measurement technologies. Our precision measurement, positioning, and autonomous solutions transform the world’s most vital industries. From aerospace & defence, automotive, construction, general manufacturing, to mining and more, we provide the confidence that customers rely on to build, navigate, and innovate.
Hexagon (Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXA B) has approximately 16,000 employees in 50 countries and net sales of approximately 3.7bn EUR.
Learn more at hexagon.com.
