AI will fundamentally reshape the global economy, boosting growth while forcing governments to rethink how they manage functions such as education, taxation and growth, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said Monday.
Speaking at the IMF’s 2026 annual meetings in Bangkok, Georgieva called AI a “slow-moving tsunami”. She said that the IMF estimates that 40 per cent of jobs could be augmented, downgraded or eliminated by the technology over time.
Many “routine, repetitive jobs” that serve as entryways for young people into the jobs market will go, she said, adding that many of the low-skill jobs remaining, such as barista work, are unlikely to be attractive as long-term career propositions.
“AI, love it, hate it. It’s already here,” the Bulgarian economist said.
Speaking on the same panel, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore and co-chair of the World Bank’s jobs council, called on governments to provide permanent support measures to help young people find work.
The “crisis-era” measures deployed during the Covid-19 pandemic must now be thought of as “part of the menu of structural policies,” he said. This will require governments to work with the private sector to provide incentives for hiring new graduates, because demand is lowering for these roles, Shanmugaratnam explained.
This is most notable in the technology sector, according to Shanmugaratnam, adding that in the US, “for the first time in a century, demand for graduates has gone down,” while the wage premium for degree holders is also falling.
Despite these warnings, AI does not seem to be widely eliminating jobs yet. Lloyds research from August found that more than half of UK businesses believe that AI has created new jobs within their organisations. Many others reported investing in AI skills training for current employees.
