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APAC Edition
9th June 2025
 
THE HOT STORY
Singapore youth encouraged to develop solutions for social issues
The Gen2050 youth action programme, launched on June 5 in Singapore, aims to empower local young people to address pressing social issues such as climate change and the impact of artificial intelligence on employment. The programme, run by the National Youth Council (NYC) in collaboration with KPMG and the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore, will mentor 100 students through structured modules. Participants can receive up to $5,000 in funding for their projects. The programme includes dialogues with policymakers and aims to reach over 1,000 young people, encouraging them to develop and pitch solutions to social challenges. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh Hanyan highlighted the importance of youth engagement in policymaking, saying: “there is a lot of power in your hands that you can wield if you find something that you are truly passionate about.”
CYBERSECURITY
Google warns that cyber thieves are targeting companies' Salesforce data
Google's Threat Intelligence Group has warned that a hacking group has been impersonating IT personnel to break into companies’ Salesforce tools, using the access for data theft and extortion. The hackers use voice calls to trick employees into visiting a purported Salesforce connected app setup page and unwittingly install a modified version of Salesforce's Data Loader tool. Technical infrastructure linked to the campaign shares characteristics with suspected ties to the loosely organised ecosystem known as “The Com,” known for small, disparate groups engaging in cybercriminal and sometimes violent activity. A Salesforce spokesperson said “there’s no indication the issue described stems from any vulnerability inherent in our platform.” The spokesperson said the voice calls used to trick employees “are targeted social engineering scams designed to exploit gaps in individual users’ cybersecurity awareness and best practices.”
HIRING
AI's impact on deflationary pressures highlighted by analysts
According to Morgan Stanley analysts, increased spending on artificial intelligence (AI) may lead to reduced hiring in China's already fragile employment market. The report highlights that while AI could help address long-term labour shortages, its immediate effects might worsen deflationary pressures. The wider adoption of the technology in China could exacerbate “prevailing deflationary pressures” by disrupting an already-weak employment market as the labour displacement effects of AI might dominate in the short term, the bank's analysts wrote in a research report. “In China, the AI-induced labour market disruption could potentially prove more acute, given that the economy has a weak starting point of high youth unemployment problems and deflation,” the analysts said.
CULTURE
Country Road boss quits amid internal culture issues
Country Road Group chief executive Raju Vuppalapati has resigned from the retailer, and will leave the company at the end of August after four years at the helm. He exits a year after a scandal concerning the behaviour of executives and a steep downturn in sales. In audio of a staff meeting in 2024 obtained by The Australian, Vuppalapati was heard to be heckled by staff over sexual harassment and bullying allegations at the company. Country Road called in a consulting firm to repair the company culture.
WORKFORCE
Community health workers in Kerala go on strike
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, over 26,000 community health workers, known as Accredited Social Health Activists (Ashas), have been on strike for more than 110 days, demanding better pay, reduced workloads, and social security. Despite their crucial role in Kerala's successful COVID-19 response and other health initiatives, Ashas are paid an honorarium that falls significantly below the legal minimum wage. The striking workers are demanding a minimum wage of 21,000 rupees per month. Dr Gopika Swarna Bai, a local community health physician, expressed her shock at the low pay, saying: “It’s insulting.”
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Self-employed women enjoy better heart health, study suggests
According to a recent study published in BMC Public Health, self-employed women exhibit better heart health compared to their employed counterparts. Lead researcher Dr. Kimberly Narain from UCLA observed: “There is a relationship between self-employment and heart disease risk factors and this relationship seems to be stronger in women relative to men.” The study analysed data from 19,400 adults and found that self-employed women had lower rates of obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, and sleeplessness. For instance, self-employed white women had a 7.4% lower obesity rate and 9.4% lower rates of poor sleep. The findings underscore the need for policies that promote autonomy and flexibility in wage employment, researchers said.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Investors 'livid' at Toyota unit take-private deal
Minority shareholders at Toyota Industries have criticised a $33bn privatisation deal, claiming it undervalues the company and threatens corporate governance reforms. Drew Edwards, of asset manager GMO, said directors have "behaved shamelessly."
INTERNATIONAL
US Supreme Court makes 'reverse' discrimination suits easier
 The US Supreme Court has made it easier for people from majority backgrounds to pursue claims alleging workplace "reverse" discrimination, reviving an Ohio woman's lawsuit claiming she was illegally denied a promotion and demoted because she is heterosexual. Marlean Ames said that despite working for the Ohio Department of Youth Services for more than 20 years, she was denied a promotion and then demoted. The decision effectively lowers the burden of proof required for people who are members of a majority group - such as white or heterosexual people - to make discrimination claims. US court precedent covering some states, including Ohio, had required that members of majority groups show additional "background circumstances" to prove their case or evidence showing a pattern of discrimination. The court has now ruled that the standard of evidence for a discrimination claim should be the same, regardless of a person's identity.
New law to expand Brazil's affirmative action policies
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has enacted a new law to enhance affirmative action policies, increasing the quota for government jobs reserved for Black individuals from 20% to 30%. The law also includes Indigenous people and descendants of Afro-Brazilian enslaved individuals as beneficiaries. “It is important to allow this country . . . to have a society reflected in its public offices, in the Prosecutors' Office, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Attorney-General's Office, in the Internal Revenue Service, everywhere,” Lula said. “We still have few women, few Black people, almost no Indigenous people." The changes will affect candidates for permanent positions across Brazil's federal administration and will be reviewed in 2035. Despite progress, with Black and mixed-race individuals holding 36% of top government jobs in 2024, the demographic remain under-represented in public service, particularly in leadership roles.
Gen Z employees struggle to communicate with older colleagues
More than two-thirds (68%) of Gen Z employees say they have difficulty communicating with older colleagues, according to a study by Korn Ferry. Vijay Gandhi, regional director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Korn Ferry Digital, said there are two reasons for this communication gap: Gen Z's digital-first communication style and the enduring impact of the pandemic on Gen Z mental health. “While older colleagues may view [digital-first communication] as being less social, that's a misconception,” Gandhi told Khaleej Times. “Gen Z is very social - just in a different way. They are less familiar with traditional communication methods like face-to-face meetings or phone calls, which are still common in many workplaces . . .  This disconnect can create friction in environments where in-person collaboration, casual conversations at the coffee machine, or phone-based discussions are still the norm,” Gandhi explained.
Warning issued about fake job scam in Portugal
Portugal's Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) has issued a warning about fraudulent online job offers that are aimed at deceiving candidates and extracting money from victims. The MP noted that the scams have particularly affected young individuals starting their careers and unemployed job seekers. The warning observes that “work online, from home” is a common phrase used by scammers posing as human resources representatives without disclosing their company details. Victims are initially tasked with simple jobs, such as writing reviews or following social media pages, with the promise of payment. However, as the scam progresses, victims are asked to pay upfront fees, often amounting to thousands of euros, under the guise of receiving larger commissions. Once victims realise they have been scammed, the criminals become unreachable.
OTHER
Cambodia to seek World Court ruling on border disputes with Thailand
Cambodia's government plans to seek a ruling from the UN's International Court of Justice regarding border disputes with Thailand following a recent military clash that resulted in a Cambodian soldier's death. Prime Minister Hun Manet announced the intention to appeal, saying the move is intended “to end this problem and extinguish it once and for all so that there is no further confusion.” The National Assembly supports the decision, which stems from a long-standing territorial dispute, particularly over the Preah Vihear temple area. Both nations have called for calm and discussions to resolve tensions, while Hun Manet urged the continuation of the Joint Border Commission's work on demarcation. The situation remains sensitive, especially given the historical context of the 1962 ruling that awarded the temple to Cambodia, a contentious issue for Thai nationalists.
 


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