Four out of 10 young people believe that machines will be able to do their jobs within a decade, an international survey published on Monday has found.

Nearly half of the young workers surveyed in Western countries said the education they received did not prepare them to do their jobs.

The skills gap is especially pronounced in Europe, according to a poll of 9,000 16- to 25-year-olds in nine of the world's biggest nations commissioned by the Indian business and software services firm Infosys.

Nearly 80 percent globally said they had to learn new skills they had not been taught at school, and that rapid technology change - the threat of being overtaken by robots or smart systems - required constant learning of fresh skills.

The survey covered about 1,000 young people each in Australia, Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, India and the United States, as well as South Africa, where a smaller sample of 700 was polled.

Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said technologies have evolved far faster than thought possible just 10 years ago, while the educational system remains wedded to practices initially designed for agrarian societies 300 years ago.

"We must transition away from our past; shift the focus from learning what we already know to an education focused on exploring what hasn't happened yet," he said.

Globally, while nearly two-thirds of those questioned said they felt positive about their job prospects, those in the developing markets were far more optimistic than their peers in developed markets.