How are European firms addressing labour shortages with robotics?

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European firms are using humanoid robots to plug labour gaps in sectors where staffing is tight, including visitor-facing roles in hospitals and airports and industrial or household support in areas such as dentistry.

European robotics firms showcased humanoid robots at France’s Vivatech trade fair as they look to address labour shortages driven by Europe’s ageing population and tighter labour supply in both manufacturing and services. French company Enchanted Tools demonstrated its Mirokai “social” robot, designed to welcome visitors in hospitals and airports, while Germany’s Neura is building humanoid industrial and household robots and says sectors like dentistry are requesting robots because they cannot find enough people.
Mirokai targets visitor-facing staffing gaps in hospitals and airports
Enchanted Tools’ Mirokai is a humanoid “social” robot that can communicate in over 50 languages. Prototypes are already working in real settings welcoming people to hospitals and airports, and the company expects its first mass-produced models by the end of this year. The firm also said at least 60 per cent of Mirokai is manufactured in Europe.
Neura responds to demand from sectors struggling to find workers, including dentistry
Neura is developing humanoid robots for industrial and household tasks and also provides a platform for training robots to perform human work. The company said it receives requests across sectors, including dentistry, where clients are asking for robots because they cannot find people to fill roles. Neura’s chief executive also pointed to an order book of over US$1 billion and noted collaboration on factory automation with German component suppliers Bosch and Schaeffler.
European firms frame robotics as a response to labour-supply pressure from ageing
Both Neura and other European executives linked the push for robotics to an ageing population that can squeeze labour supply across manufacturing and services. Neura’s CEO described robots as Europe’s “last chance” to sustain itself as labour becomes harder to source. The same broader context was used to explain why humanoid robots are being promoted as practical substitutes for missing human capacity.
European production and data concerns shape how firms compete with dominant Chinese players
European robotics leaders also highlighted constraints in competing with China’s scale, where around 87 per cent of the 13,000 humanoid robots deployed worldwide in 2025 came from Chinese production lines. Francesco Ferro of PAL Robotics stressed the need for a “totally European supply chain” rather than relying only on price, warning that sensitive data used to train robots could end up “in the wrong hands” if production is concentrated elsewhere. Genesis AI, a French-American firm, also said it plans to re-shore production of its Eno multifunctional robot to Europe next year after making it in China for customers including the industrial base in France, Italy, and Germany.

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How are European firms addressing labour shortages with robotics?

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