Abstract:

While the future is extremely difficult to foresee and always remains uncertain to a high degree, mechanisms to predict the most probable and viable trends in economy, technology, politics and social issues are generated in order to develop alternative action scenarios which, to some extent, help to prepare the answer to forthcoming significant events. Megatrends are described by Frost and Sullivan as transformative, global forces that define the future world with their far reaching impacts on businesses, societies, economies, cultures, and personal lives. Societies are, almost worldwide, experiencing drastic and fast paced changes which influence all human facets. Recent developments like the fourth industrial revolution, the connectivity and convergence, the e- and m-commerce, the big data business relevance and the urbanization, just to mention a few, are impacting the way we deal with information, the way we communicate, the way we live and work and the type of work we are dedicating ourselves to. Following the study presented in 2013 by Frey, C.B. and Osborne, M.A in the article ' The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization?', by the year 2033 47% of jobs in advanced economies are at ' high risk ' of being automated. As Fish and McLeod put it, 65% of children entering primary school today will end up working in completely new job types that don't exist yet, " We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't exist yet.... using technologies that haven't been invented... in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet." Therefore, the educational sector urgently needs to evolve and keep up with this emerging reality and with the technology transformation pace aiming to support students in acquiring and developing the cognitive and social future skills requirements which will enhance their employability in a disruptive workforce market.

This paper presents the most relevant and widely deep-rooted megatrends and analyzes what occupational qualifications and skills profiles will be demanded from graduates to cope with this new certainty. Furthermore, the authors, firstly, suggest measures to be taken by education professionals in order to adapt educational aims and pedagogy to the implications of the megatrends and secondly, incite reconsideration of the role and the way of proceeding of educators for the purpose of designing and adjusting the lecturer's job profile to the current zeitgeist.

Keywords:

Megatrends, Technology Transformation, Labour Market, Employability, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Skills Profile.