u/SimplicityHub

Hey everyone, I spend a lot of time looking at the CI, Lean, and Six Sigma job market across the UK/Europe, and the landscape is shifting pretty quickly. I have a full
Write up you can check out at the bottom, a few things I’m seeing consistently:

1. The 'Green Belt' bottleneck:
   Roles requiring a Green Belt are staying open way longer than average. Companies are desperate for people who can actually *run* a project independently, and basic White/Yellow belt awareness just isn't cutting it for hiring managers anymore.

2. The fastest growing sector isn't manufacturing:
   Financial services seems to be aggressively hunting for Lean Six Sigma practitioners right now.

3. The AI + CI hybrid premium:
   The highest-paying roles are starting to specifically ask for practitioners who know how to integrate AI tools into the DMAIC cycle (especially for data crunching during the Analyse phase).

Has anyone else noticed this shift in their own industries? Would love to hear what you're seeing out there.

PS: I put together a broader write-up on where I see the CI industry heading this year on my site here:

https://www.simplicityhub.co.uk/reports/lss-uk-report-2026.html

Hey everyone, I spend a lot of time looking at the CI, Lean, and Six Sigma job market across the UK/Europe, and the landscape is shifting pretty quickly. I have a full write up you can check out at the bottom, a few things I’m seeing consistently:

1. The 'Green Belt' bottleneck:
   Roles requiring a Green Belt are staying open way longer than average. Companies are desperate for people who can actually *run* a project independently, and basic White/Yellow belt awareness just isn't cutting it for hiring managers anymore.

2. The fastest growing sector isn't manufacturing:
   Financial services seems to be aggressively hunting for Lean Six Sigma practitioners right now.

3. The AI + CI hybrid premium:
   The highest-paying roles are starting to specifically ask for practitioners who know how to integrate AI tools into the DMAIC cycle (especially for data crunching during the Analyse phase).

Has anyone else noticed this shift in their own industries? Would love to hear what you're seeing out there.

PS: I put together a broader write-up on where I see the CI industry heading this year on my site here:

https://www.simplicityhub.co.uk/reports/lss-uk-report-2026.html

I've put together a set of free online calculators that I originally built for my own CI projects and figured they'd be useful to share.

All free to use in your browser — no email required. Currently covers things like:
• Takt Time calculator
• Cycle Time calculator
• OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
• DPMO & Sigma Level
• Cp & Cpk Process Capability
• Yield & First Pass Yield

Each calculator includes a worked example so you can see exactly how to use it — not just a blank number cruncher.

Full list here: https://www.simplicityhub.co.uk/pages/tools.html

Let me know if there's a calculator you'd find useful that's missing — always taking requests.

Keen to get some opinions on a new build!

Two things here, firstly, I have created a mind map of how to navigate a project at black belt level including all DMAIC stages, tools to use and decision points. For example MSA, checking normality, how to interpret stability and read your run chart, hypothesis testing, when a DOE is useful and how to use it and how to pick and check your control chart etc all can be done without minitab or any expensive software

Secondly, to bolster the mind map I have a built a custom GPT you can feed scruffy notes into and it populates the templates for you, because let’s face it the whole point of lean is removing waste and admin is waste.

Please share your thoughts if you think this is useful and if so would you pay for it?

Already had 2 master black belts say it is very useful but I’d like a more rounded opinion.

I've put together a library of free Lean templates that I originally built for my own CI projects and figured they'd be useful to share.

All free to download as Excel files, Google sheets, Apple numbers — no email required. Currently covers things like:

• SIPOC
• Value Stream Map
• Whys & Fishbone
• Kaizen Event Planner
• Standard Work
• Waste Identification Checklist
• Wastes Assessment

Each template has a worked example and a PDF downloadable how-to guide.

Full list here: https://www.simplicityhub.co.uk/pages/templates.html

Let me know if there's a template you'd find useful that's missing — always taking requests.

Enter your DPMO and instantly see where your process sits on the Six Sigma scale — from 1σ all the way to world-class 6σ performance.