‘Social media generation' hates phone calls, some quitting jobs

Asahi Shimbun

3 days ago

Counselors and trainers have increasingly been dealing with a modern problem: young employees' utter disdain for landline phones.
Their loathing apparently stems from growing up in a world of texting and social media, where miscommunication or gaffes can lead to widespread embarrassment, or worse.
According to experts, one reason young people hate phone calls is their fear of making such mistakes while on the line with strangers.
Although companies now outsource their call answering services, they still train recruits on handling telephone calls.
Some of these workers end up quitting their jobs just to avoid the task.
NEVER SEEN LANDLINES
Dofine Co., a Tokyo-based company that offers training to more than 100 companies a year on how to use landlines and speak on the phone, says many younger workers have never touched a fixed-line telephone.
A 27-year-old woman who started working as a public servant in Tokyo this spring made a specific request.
'If it's possible, I don't want to answer phone calls even though it is part of my job,' she said.
The rookie official said she fears she will have nothing to say and create awkward moments of silence on the phone.
Another woman, 26, who is in her fourth year at a consulting firm, said, 'I am required to make judgments on the spot, so I feel pressure to avoid saying things that can't be unsaid.'
Counselor Moeko Ono has written a book titled 'Denwa Kyofusho' (Telephone phobia) about the issue.
She said she was surprised 10 years ago when a newly hired employee said she wanted to quit because she hated taking phone calls.
It was the first time Ono came across such a case. And the number of such cases has grown each year.
Ono said young people seem to have a stronger sense of responsibility for what they say.
'We live in a society where what you say could trigger an unexpected public backlash online,' she said. 'There is a tendency (in young people) to be overly wary of what they say even in everyday conversations.'
The counselor said many people fear the uncertain factors behind phone calls, such as the identity of the caller, what they want and what their facial expression is.
Softsu Co., a Tokyo-based company that offers call transfer services, conducted a nationwide survey in 2023 covering 562 people over 20 years old.
Overall, about 60 percent of respondents said they feel awkward talking on the phone. The ratio was 74.8 percent among those in their 20s.
Uluru Co., a Tokyo-based IT firm that provides call answering services, ran an opinion ad in 2021, saying the workplace custom requiring newly hired employees to answer phone calls might be a form of 'telephone harassment.'
'We want it to serve as a starter for people to question the custom,' said Shunta Wakimura, an executive officer at the company.
Previously, new employees who were learning the workflow all received calls on one main phone number and had to memorize the names and numbers of clients.
But because each employee has a company cellphone nowadays, there are no benefits from continuing training on the old system, Wakimura said.
COPING MEASURES
When Naonyan, an illustrator popular for her heartwarming drawings, posted a picture on social media of a character troubled by phone calls in 2023, it garnered about 10,000 likes.
One reason she left the company she was working at was her trouble with phone calls.
She still feels uncomfortable on the phone but has devised ways to cope with the anxiety.
For example, she tells the caller in advance that she is not good at phone calls and prefers other communication tools. If the phone is used, she focuses on what the caller is saying to control her emotions.
Ono suggests writing down templates on conversation-starters in advance and keeping them handy for phone calls.
She added that young workers can overcome their reluctance to handle phone calls if supervisors provide detailed guidance and support.
(This article was written by Suzuka Tominaga and Hisaki Tamanaha.)