For decades, corporate strategy revolved around the same pillars: profitability, shareholder value, brand awareness, and operational efficiency. But in 2025, a louder, more urgent conversation is emerging — particularly from millennial and Gen Z voices: What role should companies play in the world beyond their profits?
The new generation of employees and consumers is not just choosing brands for their products or paychecks. They are choosing them based on what they stand for.
In Kenya and across the globe, Gen Z is not just protesting injustice — they are redefining the boundaries of leadership, business, and civic responsibility. Whether it’s political transparency, social equity, or climate change, they are asking tough questions: Why are corporations silent? Why aren’t they showing up?
In the wake of increasing climate disasters, growing inequality, political unrest, and youth-led demonstrations — including Kenya’s ongoing Gen Z protests — there is rising pressure on corporates to take a stand. Gone are the days when a neutral position was enough. Today’s workforce and consumers expect the companies they engage with to act like citizens — not bystanders.
Corporate citizenship isn’t just CSR reports and planting trees. It’s about recognising that companies operate within — and benefit from — the same society everyone else lives in. And when that society is hurting or demanding change, silence becomes complicity.
From issues like mental health, youth unemployment, climate change, and corruption, Gen Z is demanding better. They expect the workplace to be inclusive, ethical, sustainable, and human. They want employers who not only offer a salary but reflect their values.
We’ve already seen the consequences of corporate silence — or politicised backlash — in the US. In recent years, anti-diversity policies introduced at state level have put pressure on companies to roll back their DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) commitments.
Firms like Target faced boycotts and criticism for their social responsibility campaigns, leading to internal confusion, public backlash from both sides, and a sharp decline in brand trust.
These moments reveal the risks of inconsistency and inauthenticity. Gen Z consumers in particular don’t just want performative gestures — they want proof that values are embedded in business decisions.
So, should companies speak up? Yes — carefully, authentically, and consistently. Speaking up doesn’t mean bandwagoning on every trend or tweeting a flag during crises. It means doing the internal work first. Audit your practices. Support your staff. Revisit your hiring, environmental, and procurement decisions. Empower employees to volunteer. Be transparent about your gaps and commitments.
When companies show up with sincerity — not just slogans — they earn trust. When they stay silent in the face of injustice, they risk losing their people. The question is no longer whether corporate should have a voice in civic issues. The question is whether it can afford not to.
The world is watching. Your employees are watching. And Gen Z, in particular, is taking notes — not just for protest, but for choosing where to work, shop, and build. In 2025, corporate citizenship is not a PR move. It’s a leadership imperative.
As Desmond Tutu once said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
The writer is a senior HR consultant and founder of Jobonics HR.
