IMF chief warns AI is hitting jobs like a 'slow-moving tsunami'

What happened

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said artificial intelligence is hitting the global labour market like a "slow-moving tsunami", and that young people entering the job market are the most exposed to the shift.

Her comments came as a World Bank jobs council urged governments to deploy employment support measures of the kind normally reserved for crisis periods, pointing to the scale of the adjustment facing workers.

Why it matters

Labour market conditions sit at the centre of how central banks set policy. When senior officials at global institutions flag structural pressure on employment, traders tend to reassess the path of interest rates, and those expectations feed straight into the dollar and other major currencies.

Equity indices carry a second channel. Technology weightings mean that the same automation story can be read as a productivity gain for companies and as a risk to household income at the same time. Gold often draws attention in these debates because it is sensitive to rate expectations and to broader uncertainty about growth, while policy talk about fiscal support for workers can shift the backdrop for government borrowing.

What to watch

Further remarks from IMF leadership, including Georgieva, and the policy recommendations coming out of the World Bank jobs council on employment support measures.