President Donald Trump's escalating pressure on the private sector to ditch diversity programs has left some in Davos searching for new words to describe workplace practices they say are essential to their businesses.

Trump has issued a series of executive orders cutting federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, which attempt to promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally underrepresented groups.

A European Commission (EC) official asserted that government “disinformation” censorship is essential to ensure individuals receive factual information at the World Economic Forum’s Davos conference on Thursday.

Global business leaders may be in the snowy hills of Switzerland, but their conversations keep returning to Washington, D.C.

The topic of Donald Trump has dominated dinners and parties at Davos, with many in attendance at the World Economic Forum mulling the former president’s potential return to the White House after his resounding Iowa caucus victory.

The International Monetary Fund warned that nearly 40% of jobs across the globe could be affected by the rise of artificial intelligence, with high-income economies facing greater risks than emerging markets and low-income countries.

The Washington, D.C.-based institution on Sunday assessed the potential impact of AI on the global labor market and found that, in most cases, the technology is likely to worsen overall inequality.

Artificial intelligence will affect almost 40% of global jobs, with advanced economies facing greater exposure than emerging markets and low-income countries, according to an International Monetary Fund analysis.

“In most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality, a troubling trend that policymakers must proactively address to prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a blog post on the study.

Artificial intelligence will affect about 60% of all jobs in the US — and worsen income and wealth inequality, the International Monetary Fund warned.

Advanced economies such as the US are at the greatest risk due to the prevalence of cognitive task-oriented jobs, the IMF said, cautioning that the disruptive technology could replace more than half the jobs available in regions that also include Canada, the UK, Japan, Germany, France and Italy.

Comparatively, AI exposure was estimated to impact 40% of jobs in emerging economies and 26% of positions in low-income countries.

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting began in Davos with corporate executives and economists warning a global recession is likely this year.

Of 4,410 business leaders surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in October and November last year, 73% predicted global growth to decline over the coming 12 months. The reading was the worst since the consulting firm began polling in 2011. Two out of five even expressed concern their companies may not last a decade. 

There’s a hangover happening in Davos even though the party hasn’t yet started. The World Economic Forum’s annual winter shindig in the Swiss mountain resort, which kicks off on Monday, marks a return for glitzy parties and high-minded debates following a three-year hiatus. A record number of business leaders are set to make the trip, and the passage of commercial, private and government aircraft through Zurich’s airport suggests overall attendees are at pre-Covid-19 levels. Yet the direction for the future – and those who will lead it – is more clouded than ever.