ACTIVIST employees have made their voices heard in multinational corporations in the United States in recent years. Netflix employees have staged walkouts over the airing of a show by comedian Dave Chappelle. Disney staff have protested their company for not doing enough for the LGTBQIA+ community. And Twitter employees have been accused by their new chief executive officer of censoring views they disagree with.

Concern over backlash from activist employees and consumers has nudged multinational companies in Europe and the US to engage in causes to which they might not have ordinarily given much time. Nearly all large corporations now include a statement around their policies on diversity, equity and inclusion. Forbes magazine reported that nearly 80 per cent of talent professionals ranked “diversity hiring” as the most important trend in the recruiting industry in 2022.

Much has been written about how the millennial generation, born after 1980, have influenced and changed the workforce and the business world. Speculation is now rife around how Generation Z, born after 1997, will further change the business world they are now joining as employees and consumers – and how far around the world this influence will stretch. Can we expect youthful influence to change the corporate world in South-east Asia?