Millennials and Zoomers are by now well used to batting off random accusations made by their elders such as not being able to afford a house because of excessive avocado toast consumption or failing to get into the team spirit of the 24/7 work culture because they want a, ahem, life. And now we have another social shift to lay at their door: the death of the work phone call that worked very well for generations before they came along, thank you very much.
According to a survey by Matrix Recruitment, some 70 per cent of workers in the Republic prefer to use email for work-related communications, with fewer than one-in-five of the 432 respondents indicating a preference for the humble phone chat. In their personal lives the picture is flipped somewhat, with 35 per cent citing voice notes sent via social media messaging apps as a popular tool of communication. That falls to just 2 per cent when it comes to using the same medium for work purposes.
“Until around five years ago,” says Breda Dooley, regional recruitment manager at Matrix, “phone calls were our main form of communication with clients and job candidates, supported by email. However, in recent years we have noticed a major transition with email taking over from the somewhat defunct phone call, along with text or WhatsApp messages.
These newer forms of communication are primarily being used by Gen Z and Millennials who do not seem to like making or receiving phone calls, even with friends. While it’s great to be able to take advantage of the advancements in technology, which allow us to communicate faster and more efficiently, personality, tone and meaning can get lost in the process, along with the rapport that a more personal form of communication facilitates.”
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In some circumstances there is certainly no substitute. But in the era of the seemingly endless Zoom meeting (that could have been an email), it is hardly surprising that younger workers prefer to take their time and think out their responses rather than pick up their phone. Last year research published by the Harvard Business Review indicated that the number of meetings attended by a worker on average rose by 13.5 per cent during the pandemic. “Zoom fatigue” was a common problem flagged by workers, a major contributor to stress and burnout. Moreover, with the rise of instant messaging and employee surveillance through many of those same tools, workers – particularly younger, less experienced ones – have never been more “on”.
In the time of the ever-pinging Microsoft Teams or Slack channel is it any wonder that our phone’s ringtone can sometimes curdle our blood?
