Some of us have begun to look a little furtive about, you know, um, making phone calls. This dubious activity marks you out as ‘old school’ or just ‘old’ and possibly unable to keep up with modern means of communicating, some of which seem to involve using channels presided over by megalomaniacal global overlords.
It is said by the Wall Street Journal, no less, that some employers are attempting to revive the phone call – to the consternation of younger employees, who mostly think Bakelite is a Tube line. Or something produced by Mr Kipling.
But brave employers prepared to risk the wrath of Generation Z are keen to get us back on the blower because of the strain of staring at screens all the time.
“I love technology, but it creates a cognitive load when you’re looking at 32 face boxes on a screen or clicking between multiple chat windows,” Seattle-based Bill Cox, vice president of corporate and product marketing at Lyra Health, told the Journal. “When you jump on a phone call, it’s like, ‘Aaah. Relief!’”
Telephonophobia
But to bring back the Bakelite, first phone anxiety, dubbed “telephonophobia,” has to be confronted.
A symptom of this now common condition is a panicked “This could have been an email” response to an unscheduled call.
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Those of us who are parents have seen the phenomenon at close quarters. It has been noted how one’s Gen Z offspring are so often staring at their phones but strangely don’t answer when you call them.
The US report quotes one Riley Young, 26, who listens to Nicki Minaj to gird herself before dialling. Young, an audience engagement manager, has great anxiety about picking up the dog and bone when working from home.
She told the Journal: “If I can’t see their facial expressions, I’m fearful that I might say the wrong thing or they’ll take something the wrong way, and I won’t be able to tell.” She much prefers email or instant messaging.
The article claims, however, that some bosses may prefer an employee who answers the phone over someone who excels in their role. It quotes a manager of a staffing agency for independent workers in the technology industry, Scott Eastin. He says: “I’ll do business all day with someone who answers their phone,” he told the Journal. “In fact, I’ll take a less-qualified candidate who calls back.”
This being the US, there is money to be made from the rise of corporate telephonophobia. Consultant Mary Jane Copps, otherwise known as “the Phone Lady,” has upped her daily charge to $3,000 for employee training and $195 per hour for individual sessions because of demand.
“I’ve started getting questions in workshops that surprise me, like, ‘How do I end a phone call?’” she told the Journal. “Things that to many of us seem obvious are no longer obvious.”
But, again, this being the US, having a criminal record is no longer an obvious obstacle to running for president.
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