- The IMF's managing director warned that demand for first jobs after graduation was already falling in sectors
- Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said some developing economies were recording strong growth
- World leaders at the 2026 IMF and World Bank meetings called on governments and businesses to act
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised fresh concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) is shrinking the pool of entry-level jobs available to young graduates, with particular risks for developing economies that depend on strong employment growth to absorb their expanding workforces.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the warning came as evidence mounted that demand for first jobs was declining in sectors most exposed to automation and AI.
Source: Getty Images
She said AI had the potential to affect about 40% of global employment through job augmentation, downgrading or outright elimination, and that governments could no longer afford to treat the shift as a distant concern.
Georgieva made the remarks at a World Bank Group flagship event titled "Small AI: More and Better Jobs", held during the 2026 World Bank and IMF annual meetings.
She said routine and repetitive roles were disappearing even as entirely new types of work were emerging elsewhere, and urged governments to monitor labour markets closely, reform education systems and champion lifelong learning so that workers could continuously update their skills rather than rely on a single career path, Leadership reports.
Singapore president warns of widening jobs gap
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who also spoke at the event, said the squeeze on entry-level positions was already visible in labour market data.
He said:
"The first job upon graduation is now seeing less demand. The evidence is already very clear.
Tharman cautioned that developing countries risked a growing divide between economic output and actual job creation if they failed to respond.
He pointed to economies already recording strong growth figures while generating insufficient employment, warning that passive governments could allow AI to widen that gap further.
He argued that losing access to a first job was more damaging than it might appear, as early work experience builds skills and confidence that shape the rest of a graduate's career.
He said:
"We can't afford to lose that."
Calling on governments to work directly with private businesses to ensure fresh graduates were recruited rather than passed over in favour of AI-assisted workflows.
He also warned that prolonged delays in landing a first job could leave entire cohorts of graduates competing against each other for shrinking opportunities over successive years.
Source: Getty Images
Calls for education reform and practical training
Tharman pressed universities and other tertiary institutions to move beyond a heavy reliance on academic credentials and build stronger links with workplaces through internships, practical training and structured attachments.
He said the connection between a degree and a clear career path was weakening, and that education systems must adapt to what employers need rather than what they needed a generation ago.
The broader discussions at the meetings centred on how governments, schools and private employers could coordinate their responses to ensure AI adoption ultimately supports job creation rather than displacing the workers most in need of a foothold in the economy.
FG opens application portal for free training in AI
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the federal government has launched the Digital Training Academy (DTA), a free skills programme targeting 32,000 Nigerians across the country's 36 states and the FCT.
The academy is part of the FG s National Skilling Project.
The programme is being run in partnership with global learning platform Coursera, and will offer successful applicants free learning licences at no personal cost.
Source: Legit.ng