IMF Warns AI is a 'Slow-Moving Tsunami' as World Bank Council Urges Permanent Crisis-Era Job Support

The IMF warned that artificial intelligence is hitting the global labor market like a "slow-moving tsunami," estimating that about 40% of jobs worldwide will eventually be augmented, downgraded, or eliminated. Exposure to AI disruption sits at roughly 60% in advanced economies and 23% in low-income countries, with young graduates seeking entry-level, routine work facing the most immediate risk of displacement. Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, co-chairing the World Bank's Jobs Council, urged governments to make "crisis-era" pandemic-style support measures a permanent structural policy to incentivize private firms to hire fresh graduates. Shanmugaratnam noted that demand for graduates in the US has declined for the first time in a century, shrinking the wage premium for a college degree as the traditional first rung of corporate employment sees less demand. Despite the labor market risks, the IMF estimates AI adoption could lift economic growth by 0.5 to 1 percentage point in advanced Asian economies, potentially offsetting the economic drag of rapidly aging populations. "Normally, they would get into these routine, repetitive jobs and then grow up the ranks. But if they're gone, I don't think any young person wants to be a barista in a coffee shop as ... professional future." — Kristalina Georgieva