As we continue our lives in a world where texting (or rather, TikToking, Snapchatting and Instagramming) is the default, a surprising truth has emerged from the top officials of global firms: A simple phone call can be a game-changer for your career.
However, for many young adults, that kind of opportunity might never land as they struggle with what’s called “phone anxiety,” leading them to avoid answering work calls.
This growing issue is not just holding Gen Z back from major opportunities but also impacting the official employment data, forcing colleges to step in with call-making classes.
How is phone anxiety a developing issue?
Their phone anxiety is so bad that 67 per cent of under-34-year-olds are avoiding answering work calls altogether. This issue led to Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) scrapping employment data.
Psychology and management professor Maxted Neal explains to Fortune that phone calls nowadays are only reserved for important occasions where a text won’t suffice.
Although a call could be about landing a job offer, it’s more often than not bad news about loved ones.
“This builds an association with phone calls of being high-stakes, ‘serious’, or for delivery of bad news, and therefore an aversion to just picking up the phone and calling,” he says.
What is Gen Z missing out?
People have landed big opportunities just because they answered that one phone call.
Rohit Prasad, one of the most influential figures of Amazon, jumped from being Alexa’s head scientist to running its AI team and reporting directly to the CEO Andy Jassy. It was possible all because of a random phone call he received in 2013.
“When Amazon called to build Alexa, I had no idea what that was going to be, and if I hadn’t picked up the call, then I may not have gotten that opportunity,” Prasad told Fortune.
And he’s not the only executive who made it big in the industry because of a phone call. GHD boss Jeroen Temmerman told Fortune he wasn’t even job hunting when the haircare giant rang out of the blue with an offer. And Bob Iger never thought he’d return to Disney, until the call came, and his wife convinced him to say yes.
How to overcome telephobia?
Despite the association of phone calls with “serious or bad news”, learning to pick up the phone might be easier and more essential than Gen Z thinks, Neal said
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Voice notes are a good starting point as the generation is already comfortably using it. Some other ways to enhance communication skills can include practising tone, message, and getting comfortable with the instant and ‘live’ nature of spoken conversation, Neal advised.
“Getting more confident and comfortable speaking on the phone is a matter of doing it more often, and reflecting on how you did.”
Career coach Kyle Elliott mirrored Neal’s opinion, agreeing that starting small is the key.
Elliot advised anxious young adults to practise calling friends and family members to get used to speaking on the phone. “Try developing a habit of calling rather than texting until you’re more comfortable. Your future self will thank you.”
Why does voice matter in an AI world?
In an AI-dominated world, the ability to pick up the phone and speak like a real person could keep a person employable.
But as of now an easy start for the millions of unemployed Gen Zers who have a reputation for ghosting employers can be simply facing their phone anxiety.
“Remember that you only get one first impression with an employer, and this is often during the phone screen, so you must ensure your phone skills are up to par,” Elliott says.
He further added that employers still hold phone interviews to test for this very skill. Afterall, if you land the job, you will probably need the confidence to call clients from time to time.