The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, says AI could affect about 40 per cent of jobs globally and urges governments to prepare workers for a changing labour market.

Ms Georgieva ‌said this during a panel session on ‘Small Scale AI: More and Better Jobs’ at the 2026 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday.

She described AI as a “slow-moving tsunami” for the labour market, saying it could augment, downgrade or eliminate jobs.

According to her, IMF estimates show that AI could affect about 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies and 23 per cent in low-income countries.

She said the lower exposure in low-income countries reflected the slower spread of AI rather than greater protection from its effects. According to her, AI is already stimulating investment and demand in some economies through data centre construction and AI model development.

She identified the United States, China and India as major AI-producing economies, while several Asian countries, including Thailand, were contributing to the infrastructure supporting the technology.

Ms Georgieva said the investments were helping sustain global economic growth at about three per cent, despite the drag from energy supply shocks.

She, however, said the next phase of AI development would be driven by adoption, which could enable more countries to benefit if they established the necessary foundations.

The IMF chief said developing economies needed reliable electricity, digital infrastructure, appropriate skills and effective government safeguards to ensure safe and inclusive AI adoption.

She cited IMF estimates indicating that AI could increase growth in advanced Asian economies by between 0.5 and one percentage point, while emerging Asian economies could record additional growth of between 0.2 and 0.8 percentage points.

Ms Georgieva said an additional one percentage point of growth could more than offset the economic losses associated with rapidly ageing populations in advanced Asian economies.

On employment, she said an IMF study in the United States showed that about 10 per cent of jobs already required advanced AI skills, with such positions generally attracting higher pay.

She added that routine and repetitive jobs were declining, while lower-paying jobs were increasing in areas such as data centre construction and services.

Although the study found a positive net employment impact in the areas examined, Ms Georgieva said the trend was not entirely encouraging because much of the employment growth was concentrated in lower-paying jobs.

She identified young people entering the labour market as particularly vulnerable because routine entry-level positions traditionally provide opportunities to gain experience and advance in their careers.

Ms Georgieva urged governments to monitor labour market developments, reform education systems to promote lifelong learning and reconsider tax policies as AI changes the balance between labour and capital.

She warned that a shift toward greater reliance on capital and less on human labour could affect government revenue, limiting public authorities’ capacity to help society adapt to AI-driven changes.

She said she hoped AI would take over undesirable tasks, allowing people to enjoy higher productivity, improved living standards and the dignity of meaningful social participation, adding, “Get AI to do all the stuff we don’t want to do and let us enjoy the things we love to do.”

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said AI-driven job displacement would occur gradually, task by task, giving workers and employers time to adapt through workplace learning and skills development.

Mr Shanmugaratnam, however, said demand for entry-level jobs was declining, particularly in technology-related sectors, with potential consequences for fresh graduates.

He called on governments to collaborate with the private sector to create employment opportunities for graduates, stressing that securing a first job was crucial to building skills, experience and confidence.

Mr Shanmugaratnam also advocated reforms in tertiary education to reduce excessive emphasis on academic qualifications and expand practical training, internships, workplace attachments and partnerships between universities and businesses.

The Singaporean president said education systems needed to remain flexible, combining specialised expertise with broader human skills, as the future workplace’s precise demands remained uncertain.

(NAN)