, Columnist
Gen Z’s Rage in Asia Is Stoked By a Staggering Jobs Crisis
Fury on the streets.
Photographer: Dimas Rachmatsyah/AFP/Getty Images
Youth-led protests across Asia in recent months have centered on corruption, elitism and censorship. But behind Gen-Z’s anger lies something even more troubling: A staggering jobs crisis.
The generation born around the turn of the century is facing a bleak economic future. A shrinking pool of jobs and the advance of artificial intelligence are weighing on their prospects. Left unaddressed, the demographic dividend (which refers to having more people in the workforce than dependents) that leaders like to tout as a guarantee of prosperity can just as easily become a trigger for unrest.