Gen Z doesn't want to say 'hello' when answering the phone. I'm concerned.
But Gen Z — a generation raised in a post-landline universe — may disagree. They expect you — the person calling — to speak first.
A recent viral tweet brought up this alarming etiquette divide. Someone who works in recruiting tweeted that she's noticed that when she calls Gen Z people (at their scheduled call time), they often wait for her to speak first instead of saying "hello."
The replies to her tweet were even more eye-opening — to me, anyway: Many young people agreed that it should be the caller's responsibility to start speaking and offer a greeting, not the person answering the call.
The reasons these people gave settled into two main camps: The first is the huge amount of spam calls we all receive. (They are annoying.) Often, those telemarketers or robocalls don't start until they hear someone say "hello." By remaining silent when you pick up, you can screen for a real human.
Gen Z is wary of scammers
Spam calls are a scourge, and it's hard to complain about anyone's tactics to avoid them. And yet there's gotta be a better way, right?
(I must note here that in my experience as someone who almost always answers unknown calls, since they may be work-related, if I say "This is Katie" instead of "Hello," it seems to stump the robocall software, which activates on the word "hello." I would recommend you all try this technique, but you'll have better results if you use your own name instead of "Katie.")
Another concern is that scammers might use a recording of your voice saying "hello" to clone it for use in other scams. There is some real concern here. Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, told me there's scant data on how often this happens, but it's a real thing. "If you must respond, a neutral, non-personal greeting like 'Who is this?' may be less useful for cloning because it is less emotionally expressive and less common as a voice sample," Briedis said. (Personally, I think that's more rude than just silently breathing into the receiver, but hey.)
Etiquette is changing
The other reason some people are avoiding the "hello" seems to be a generational difference in etiquette. Some young people simply believe that if you're the one who is calling, you should initiate the conversation.
If that makes your blood pressure start to rise, like it does with me, let's take a deep breath together and try to think about this kindly. Are young people hopelessly adrift in society, untethered from being capable of the most basic elements of communication? Is this perhaps related to the "so-called " Gen Z stare" where young people in customer service situations blankly stare back at you (or avoid eye contact, wordlessly)?
I'm not saying it's not that. I think that saying "hello" when you answer the phone is normal, commonly accepted social etiquette, and not doing it can be slightly confusing for a caller.
But just because something used to be common etiquette doesn't mean it has to stay that way. The telephone is a relatively recent invention in the history of human communication, as is the word "hello," which Thomas Edison encouraged as the way to start a conversation on the new invention in the 1870s. Not until the 1940s did the majority of American households have their own phone. A whole new etiquette for handling phone calls has been invented within a generation or two.
Landline phones had different customs
As an elder millennial, I grew up with a home landline without caller ID, answering with variations of, "Notopoulos residence, this is Katie." I've also had jobs with desk phones where strangers would call out of the blue (gasp!) and I would answer with the company name, my full name, maybe even a rote "How can I help you?" Might we have possibly missed out on the Beastie Boys' album "Hello Nasty" if not inspired by the way the receptionist at the Nasty Little Man PR firm answered the phone?
But just within my (relatively) brief time as an adult, the way we use phones and what we do with them has changed drastically. Now, when you call someone, you assume you are reaching their direct personal mobile phone, not a shared family phone that other people might answer. Answering machine outgoing messages used to be an art form; now people rarely leave or check voicemail (I usually read the transcription in my iPhone's Visual Voicemail instead of actually listening to the recording). There's a new calculus we're all still muddling through about what should be a Zoom and what should be a regular phone call.
I'm often texting or emailing someone several times to agree on a set time do to a five-minute phone call. When I do call someone out of the blue, I find myself apologizing for it, as if I had shown up on their doorstep unannounced at dinnertime.
I enjoy waxing nostalgic about the Old Days of Landlines, but it doesn't mean any of the old ways were necessarily better. Progress marches on!
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'Gen Z, along with Millennials, are more likely to say that the technology they interact with on the job makes them more efficient: 20% of Gen Z and 18% of Millennials agree with that statement, compared with just 10% of Gen X and 11% of Boomers. 'They're engaging with these tools more often and more fluidly, and they're using them to their advantage.' Gen Z's higher engagement with AI tools holds true regardless of whether they're leaders, managers or individual contributors at their company. Coleman believes their comfort level with the technology will only grow as they build their careers—but also warns of AI's generation-polarizing potential. 'Older generations risk becoming further disconnected unless organizations are actively working to bridge the gap through upskilling and inclusion,' he says. 'AI is an incredible asset, but it needs to be balanced with the wisdom, experience and human insight that older generations bring to the table.' 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'If Gen Z can see leadership as a way to live out their values (vs. compromise them), they may be more willing to step up.' Quiet-quitting Gen Z Gen Z invented quiet quitting as a way to stave off burnout without actually quitting. I'm among those who think quiet quitting can be a good thing—but it's not without its pitfalls. 'If younger generations avoid leadership pathways through 'quiet quitting' or opting out of formal roles, they may also be opting out of the training and development opportunities that help people grow over time,' says Coleman. 'At some point, another generation is going to enter the workforce behind them—then another—and if Gen Z hasn't stepped into management or leadership roles, they may find themselves underprepared to guide or develop others.' Coleman argues that it's also worth thinking about this issue generationally. 'Gen Z tends to have high expectations for what they want in a leader—things like empathy, communication and authenticity—but if they don't step into those roles themselves, they may not get the chance to deliver on those expectations when it's their turn,' he says. While stepping away might help avoid the short-term frustrations of managing in today's environment, Coleman points out that it also removes them from the conversations and decisions that shape what leadership looks like going forward. All of this is true, and yet it's up to current leaders to assess (and solve) why their Gen Z workers may see quiet quitting as their best option. The Gen Z question: 'Why?' In my work with educational institutions and communities, I call today's young people the Why Generation, because that's the question they're always asking. Coleman has made the same observation. 'Gen Z is more vocal about asking questions—they want to know 'why?',' he says. 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'Across all generations, Dale Carnegie research shows that strong communication, emotional intelligence and other professional skills are in demand and often underdeveloped,' he says. What may be making this more visible with Gen Z is the rapid development and pace of change in the tech era. 'The gap between technical expertise and human-centered soft skills seems to be widening,' says Coleman. 'Employers might hesitate if they feel younger workers can't navigate professional environments or manage interpersonal dynamics effectively—but that's an opportunity for development, not a reason to write them off.' One professional skill that is sorely needed across all industries, job titles and generations is communication. 'The ability to communicate effectively seems a very simple concept, but our research shows that implementing and maintaining a culture of effective communication in practice is lacking,' says Coleman. 'Gen Z's desire for meaning, clarity and connection makes this kind of training particularly relevant. The tension between what Gen Z is asking for and how older generations perceive it may not be a generational gap in values—it may be a communication gap.' Closing this gap for all workers, not just Gen Z, will help create an environment where everyone feels heard and understood, says Coleman. 'And that can make a big difference in how Gen Z shows up at work: more confident, more engaged and more likely to stay.' Meeting Gen Z where they're at Gen Z has a lot to offer at work, but first we need to understand what will drive their highest performance. More often than not, it's a vision for making a positive difference in the world—not just in the profit margins. 'The key is finding common ground,' says Coleman. 'That starts with understanding where each generation is coming from, what has influenced their expectations and why they approach work the way they do.' Letting go of where we think Gen Z should be and accepting the reality of where they're at is the way forward. Because when we meet them where they're at, together we can all move forward.
