Realising human-robot collaboration in manufacturing? A journey towards industry 5.0 amid organisational paradoxical tensions

Human-robot collaboration is envisioned as a cornerstone of the future ‘ideal’ industry (Industry 5.0)—resilient, sustainable, and human-centred. While this goal has not yet been fully realised, advancements in collaborative robotic technology are expected to accelerate progress. Central to this vision is a workforce equipped with the skills necessary to collaborate effectively with robots in ‘ideal’ hybrid teams. Existing literature widely supports this optimistic outlook, suggesting that with the right technological developments, workforce reskilling and upskilling, and the resolution of key ethical and social concerns, human-robot collaboration in manufacturing will eventually become a reality. In this paper, we draw on a one-year field study that engaged with 39 representatives from industry, research, and other key stakeholders in both the technical and human factors of collaborative applications. Using constructive grounded theory and abductive reasoning, we challenge the assumption that the trajectory towards human-robot collaboration is straightforward or can be resolved through a one-time solution. Instead, our results reveal a journey marked by a series of paradoxical tensions, providing a fresh perspective on the complexities and unexpected empirical ‘surprises’ that define the transition towards Industry 5.0. We employ Paradox Theory to examine and elucidate this evolving journey, where paradoxes—such as automation vs augmentation, technical efficiency vs human wellbeing, and exploration vs exploitation—emerge, shift, and are managed in unexpected ways, revealing interdependencies between different types of responses across micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis. Extending beyond current theorisations on the implementation of Industry 5.0, our study contributes substantively and theoretically to understanding the evolving socio-technical complexities that shape this transition, highlighting the interplay between technological advancements, organisational dynamics, and workforce adaptation.