IMF chief warns of AI threat to jobs and taxes

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 12 Oct, 10:24 · Archive

The IMF warned that artificial intelligence is disrupting the global labour market, particularly affecting young workers entering employment.

The IMF's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Monday that artificial intelligence is disrupting the global labour market like a 'slow-moving tsunami'. Young people entering the job market are most exposed to this disruption, as AI is already hollowing out the routine, repetitive tasks that typically provide entry-level employment and career progression.

Georgieva noted that young graduates would normally enter routine jobs and advance through the ranks, but if those positions disappear, they face a diminished employment landscape. She said: 'People to worry about, first and foremost, are young people that are coming into the labor market.'

In response, Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who co-chairs the World Bank's Jobs Council, urged governments to adopt permanent structural policies based on crisis-era support measures used during the Covid-19 pandemic and global financial crisis. He called for governments to work with the private sector to incentivise firms to hire fresh graduates, as 'the first rung in employment, your first job upon graduation, is now seeing less demand'. Policymakers are shifting from debating whether AI will disrupt employment to deciding how to cushion the fallout.

How it is being reported

• World Bank jobs council urges 'crisis-era' employment support measures as IMF warns of AI ‘tsunami’IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva warned AI is hitting the global labor market like a “slow-moving tsunami,” with young workers entering the job market the most exposed.CNBC · 12 Oct, 09:58
• IMF chief warns of threat from AI to jobs and taxesKristalina Georgieva said the technology is already hollowing out demand for many human workers by taking over routine, repetitive tasks.The Japan Times · 12 Oct, 08:58

In this story: Kristalina Georgieva · Tharman Shanmugaratnam · International Monetary Fund · World Bank · Singapore

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