Gen Z rage in Asia stoked by staggering jobs crisis

YOUTH-LED PROTESTS across Asia in recent months have centred on corruption, elitism and censorship.But behind Gen-Z's angerlies something even more troubling: A staggering jobs crisis.

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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.

President Donald Trump's trade wars and a backlash against globalisation are reshaping labour markets. Youth unemployment in parts of Asia is consistently two to three times higher than national averages, notes Morgan Stanley in a report titled Asia Faces Rising Youth Unemployment Challenge. The few jobs available are too often precarious, underpaid, orvanishing to automation. The problem is particularly acute in the three most-populous countries, where economic growth isn't being translated into enough new jobs to accommodate the millions of people who will be looking for work: China, India, and Indonesia have youth unemployment rates of 16.5%, 17.6% and 17.3%, respectively. By contrast, the US reports a rate of 10.5%.