Those who grew up with WhatsApp, TikTok, and Snapchat must find emails totally boring. However, a recent survey shows the opposite: For 42 percent of the respondents from Gen Z, emails are the best form of communication in the workplace. For many, they have one decisive advantage: You can avoid uncomfortable conversations. However, when it comes to a simple question, the young generation struggles.
What important question does Gen Z struggle with? As popular as emails are, they cause uncertainties specifically when it comes to writing rules. In a survey by ZeroBounce, around 1,400 people from Gen Z were asked about their communication behavior at work. 57 percent of the respondents do not know how formal a business email should be.
What is meant here is primarily the right tone: How professional should an email sound, and when can it be a bit more casual? Emojis also cause young employees headaches: 14 percent are unsure whether and when they are appropriate.
51 percent do not know when they should follow up if they have not received a response to their email. 26 percent are unsure when a colleague should be in CC or BCC, and 18 percent wonder how quickly they should reply to an email.
Those who now think that Gen Z would rather avoid emails for safety are mistaken. Because emails are still better than other forms of communication.
Emojis and emotes are hardly removable from online communication. However, they are not always appropriate in emails.
Video calls are the least favored
Why does Gen Z still love writing emails? One of the main reasons for the popularity of emails among Generation Z is probably the distance they allow.
60 percent of Gen Z employees reported in the survey that they have used an email to avoid a conversation or confrontation.
Gen Z particularly likes to avoid video calls: Only two percent of the respondents prefer to communicate via video at work.
Overall, 42 percent consider the classic email their preferred form of communication at work. In comparison: Messengers like WhatsApp or Slack account for only 20 percent.
Of course, Gen Z does not want to completely avoid conversations. 40 percent of young employees state that they prefer to resolve challenges in person.
Nevertheless, emails are unlikely to disappear from office life anytime soon. 64 percent of young employees believe that they will still exist in ten years.
What do you think? Do you like to write emails, or do you prefer other forms of communication? Have you ever written an email to avoid conversations? And do you think we will still use this classic form of communication in 10 years? Let us know in the comments!
While Generation Z surprisingly enjoys using emails in the office, a significantly older form of communication is also making a comeback. Some young people are sending classic letters and postcards again. The curious thing is: They can actually earn several thousand euros with it, as MeinMMO reports.
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