
The robots may be coming for our jobs - but they are also job creators.

Technology is increasingly infused into everything we do, and that will only become more evident in the workplaces of the future. Careers that used to safely dodge the high-tech bullet will soon require at least a basic grasp of things like web design, computer programming - and, yes, robotics.

The majority (a projected 85 percent) of the jobs that today's college students will have in 2030 haven't been invented yet, according to a new report by the Institute for the Future.

Many of those will be in high-tech fields – think virtual reality and artificial intelligence. But many other opportunities will be in traditional fields that require new skills to interact with technology.

Job titles such as 'head of machine personality design,' 'data trash engineer' and 'juvenile cybercrime rehabilitation counselor,' are among those envisioned in a separate report by tech consulting firm Cognizant.

This map illustrates how many students graduated with STEM degrees in every state in 2016. It also shows the percentage of STEM graduates out of all degrees earned in each state, according to data from the National Center of Education Statistics

The World Economic Forum is forecasting a massive shift just over the next four years, with 133 million new jobs created globally as a result of technology and automation by 2022. During that same period 75 million jobs are expected to be lost worldwide as lower-tech jobs are eliminated and more automation replaces low-skill positions.

It's not a new problem, and for the most part society has so far managed to adapt to the evolving workforce needs that came with the introduction of the internet and mobile phones.

'We knew 20 years ago that software programming skills were increasing in demand, but we did not predict an app developer as the type of job that would emerge from these new developments - but the app developer's skills are very similar to what the software developer's skills would be,' said Nicole Smith, chief economist at Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce.

As workers strive to adapt for the rapidly arriving future, educators will also have to evolve to better prepare students for the future of work.

Changes on the horizon will be more dramatic than anything we have seen in the past

Even now, many Americans work in fields completely different from what they specialized in at university. A 2013 report by the Federal Reserve found that just 27 percent of college graduates worked in a job that actually matched what they studied in college.

Jobs of the Future The Center for the Future of Work identified a number of tech-influenced job titles they imagine becoming reality in the near future, including: - Smart Home Design Manager: These professionals will work with architects, engineers and customers to design connected homes that integrate technology seamlessly and beautifully with design. - Data Trash Engineer: Companies across the globe are increasingly accumulating data that they have no immediate use for. A data trash engineer would be charged with identifying and curating unused data and finding new ways for it to be useful or profitable to businesses. - Juvenile Cybercrime Rehabilitation Counselor: These mental health professionals will work in schools and directly with children to rehabilitate youth convicted of cybercrime and help redirect their online talents to ethical activity. Advertisement

Common job titles like social media manager, digital marketing specialist or drone operator didn't exist when most people now in those positions were in college.

However, the changes that are coming are expected to touch a wider variety of career paths, and many experts say the majority of America's secondary and higher education institutions are not ready for that impending reality.

'The skills of the future are not well aligned with what schools are offering now,' said Ben Pring, managing director for Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work.

The problem isn't necessarily a lack of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs at universities around the country, but the fact that students studying non-tech centric subjects will need the skills that are currently being taught almost exclusively to STEM-focused students.

'Every non-technology job – a teacher, a policeman, a doctor, whatever it is … every non-technology job in the future needs technology injected into it,' Pring told DailyMail.com.

Higher education in America isn't ready for the changing tide - and change could be slow

That will be impossible under the current structure of American college and universities, said Jonathan Blake Huer, an education consultant who advises colleges on the needs of the evolving workforce.

'The way that higher education institutions are organized is around departments, which are good at knowledge in a limited field,' Huer told DailyMail.com. 'That's part of why higher education institutions right now are struggling to adapt to technology and the environment.'

The future will require ongoing education throughout one's career in order to remain nimble and up-to-date on the latest technology – which experts say necessitates a dramatic shift in how Americans think about education and how and where they obtain it.

This chart illustrates the proportion of American companies projected to adopt new technologies in the workplace by 2022. Some technologies - like big data analytics - are already widely in use, while others (humanoid robots) are just emerging

'You (need to) keep on learning, keep on injecting the next wave of technology, the next wave of performance, that's how you keep on learning and stay relevant,' Pring said.

Many U.S. colleges have historically placed an emphasis on liberal arts programs. That often included majors that were difficult to translate into real-world careers, such as Russian literature, ancient languages and philosophy.

Many experts say that emphasis has already shifted, but the 'soft skills' learned through writing and, say, defending a thesis, can still translate in the real world.

Alternative learning will democratize education for the workforce, making it more affordable

In some cases universities won't be the solution. Instead, certificate programs, distance learning and apprenticeships may evolve to be the entry-points to new careers or the methods for training workers to adapt to ever-evolving needs.

Some experts envision video tutorials leading the way, or the availability of ongoing learning via company-sponsored mobile applications in the workplace supplementing more formal education paths.

Some of these changes will allow workers to access free or low-cost learning that will dramatically increase their employability. Those options will offer a stark contrast to the rapidly rising costs of higher education in America.

Whatever the eventual reality, universities will need to undergo fundamental changes to remain relevant, Huer said. Historically, there's been a dissonance between what universities want (to create new knowledge) and what students want (to get a job after graduation), he said.

Within four years, machines are expected to take on significantly more of the work currently being done by humans. This chart illustrates the proportion of work hours that humans vs. machines spend on various tasks in 2018 compared to projections for 2022, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2018

Universities can adapt for students by blurring the lines of specialization across disciplines

In the future, different academic departments will have to integrate to allow for new degrees that span multiple disciplines, Huer said.

For example, someone who wants to focus on becoming a game designer would need skills that historically have been divided between art and graphics, computer science, and engineering departments. Skills like story telling (creative writing and literature departments) will also be relevant.

'Schools are either going to have to change their administrative structures to adapt to what the market wants, what students want and what technology allows – or they're going to go out of business,' Huer said.

He acknowledged that elite Ivy League universities are not at risk – but the U.S. is home to more than 4,000 colleges, and most students in America don't attend name-brand universities. Those state and private schools are under more pressure to adapt.

Community colleges and two-year degrees will play a big role in the future of education

Community colleges and other two-year institutions may be uniquely poised to help students prepare for the future of work, said Kimberly Green, executive director of Advance CTE, a non-profit focused on supporting high quality career technical education across the U.S.

Skills of the Future The Institute for the Future identified several skills that will help workers remain relevant in an every-changing world of work, including: - Self-promotion: In the future, everyone must have a personal brand and your own 'personal economy.' Whether it's using social media to highlight your expertise (makeup tutorials, for instance), entertain people while promoting products (think: Instagram stars), or simply winning contracts for being able to highlight the skills you offer in a chosen field, everyone will have to self-promote to remain competitive in the workplace. - Befriend the machines: In the future no one will be able to get by without taking on the machines. Whether it is robots, twitter bots or an AI assistant, the future is all about getting comfortable with new technology. - Build your tribe: As you build your brand online, it will be equally important to develop relationships and to network with people across the globe. It's one way 'soft skills' will translate into the modern world. Advertisement

'There is, by design, a component of community colleges that engage with their community and requires the community to be a direct stakeholder,' Green told DailyMail.com.

Smith, of the Center on Education and the Workforce, agreed, saying that community colleges have done a better job in recent years at 'having their ear to the ground.'

'They are partnering with business to develop curriculum and changes that are more reflective of the types of programs that businesses actually need,' she told DailyMail.com.

After declining in popularity in the 1980s, the interest in two-year degrees from career and technical colleges has started to rebound through greater funding for skills-based programs, according to the Brookings Institution.

The number of colleges and tech schools offering vocational education programs rose 16 percent from 2003-2015.

The key for all learning institutions will be focusing less on a narrow field of study and more on what competencies and skills are needed across the spectrum of job titles.

Jobs in health care, finance and management are all going to require new STEM-focused skills in the near future, and 'if a student can't get a job when they are done, you have failed in one of your major objectives,' Smith said.