Robots might be filling in for most service workers by 2025? A new report says robotics technology will be far enough along to take over for many low-skill jobs and beyond.

Check out “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World” by the National Intelligence Council to read up on these and other concepts of a new workforce. It offers long-range strategic thinking about the military and economic challenges the U.S. will face from other countries over the next 17 years. Some highlights from the report:

• Robots could fill some healthcare jobs and provide care for the elderly.
• These machines could disrupt unskilled labor markets and affect immigration patterns by taking over some jobs now performed by migrant workers.
• The report predicts widespread use of “human cognitive augmentation technologies,” otherwise known as wearable devices that can help improve vision, hearing, and memory.
• Asia, Africa, and Latin America will account for virtually all population growth over the next 20 years; less than 3% of the growth will occur in the West. Europe and Japan will continue to outdistance the emerging powers of China and India in per capita wealth, but they will struggle to maintain growth rates because the size of their working-age populations will decrease.
• An exception to the aging of populations will be the United States.The report says we will experience higher birth rates and more immigration. The number of migrants seeking to move from disadvantaged to relatively privileged countries is likely to increase, the report says.

Conservative, team-playing multi-taskers…or not? You can decide after checking out Penelope Trunk’s insights into Gen Y.

A few worker trends from CareerBuilder’s Q4 2008 job forecast:

• Workers are taking on second jobs. How else to pay for the increased cost of gas and food? About 25% of workers are considering a second job, while 9% already have taken on a second job in 2008 to help make ends meet.
• Workers are postponing active job search and proceeding with caution. Most are not actively pursuing a change in employment, with 38% saying they will likely stay at their current jobs for at least one year, and 41% saying they plan to stay with their present employers until retirement.
• Workers are taking measures to improve prospects down the line. About 26% of workers plan to go back to school to obtain a degree, certification, or other training.

The survey also finds a slight decrease in the number of employers planning to add new, full-time workers in the next three months (23%, a decline from the previous quarter); 10% plan to decrease headcount; 63% anticipate no change; and 4% are undecided.

The unemployment rate jumped to a five-year high this August as more employers continue to cut jobs. This comes as no surprise with the weak economy, struggling financial markets, and as Congress scrambles with its $700 billion bailout plan of the U.S. financial system.

But what does the future job market look like? What careers are the safest bets for weathering the storm?