Generation Z does not like to make phone calls, and there is a fear of the phone behind it. A university now offers courses against telephobia. A career counselor explains what is behind this fear and what can be done about it.
The landline phone is one of those things, for which Boomers, in contrast to Gen Z, are happy to spend money every year. However, in Generation Z, the phone line is hardly present anymore, and there are good reasons for this.
According to experts, large parts of Generation Z are afraid of making phone calls. Therefore, the phone connection is completely banned from their homes. A career counselor at Nottingham College recently told the English-language CNBC that the young generation is offered courses to help them overcome their fear of phone calls. Young people have changed their habits and much prefer to use their mobile phones, but not to make calls.
Telephobia courses against the fear of making phone calls
Liz Baxter, a career counselor at Nottingham College, told the English-language CNBC that telephobia is a “relatively new phenomenon.” Baxter says that many of the older students at the college have to take phone interviews as a pre-examination for applications and fail precisely because they lack the awareness and confidence to make a call.
They [Gen Z] simply did not have the opportunity to make and receive phone calls. Nowadays, that is no longer the primary function of their mobile phones; they can do everything with the phone, but we automatically switch to SMS, voice notes, and everything else except using a phone for its original purpose, and that is how people have lost that ability.
Courses against phone anxiety: The telephobia seminar at the university is part of a series of career-related events designed to help students get their phone skills back in shape.
In the seminar, students are confronted with several scenarios in which they have to make phone calls. These are very everyday situations: calling the doctor for an appointment or calling in sick at work.
Students are encouraged to sit back-to-back to simulate a normal phone call where they cannot see the person on the other end, practicing with scripts. This way, participants in the courses can learn how a phone call actually works and that there is also a person like themselves on the other end of the line.
Fear of the phone partially stems from the Corona pandemic
Where does this fear come from? Baxter explains that the fear of the phone, so-called telephobia, partly stems from the Corona pandemic: Many young people were isolated during this time and had little contact with the outside world.
Generation Z is also concerned about how they sound on calls, as they do not have visual feedback to confirm how they are doing. The career counselor explains:
They [Generation Z] associate the ringing of the phone with fear: ‘I don’t know who is on the other end of the phone. I don’t know how to handle it.’
In addition, people associate anxieties with the ringing phone. A study by the magazine Uswitch reports on this:
- 23% of 18 to 34-year-olds never answer a phone call.
- About 61% of the same age group prefer to receive a message instead of an audio call.
- More than half of 18 to 24-year-olds believe that a call out of the blue means bad news.
- 48% of participants prefer to communicate via social media.
- Just over a third prefer voice messages.
A trend seems to be particularly popular among young people of Generation Z: job ghosting. Recent survey data from a platform that interviewed applicants and companies shows that 78% of all applicants have deliberately ignored the employer: Among Gen Z, there is a popular trend: they do not show up for job interviews
