‘I can hear their breathing’: Why Gen Z doesn’t say ‘hello’ when answering the phone

When answering the phone, do you lead with a “hello” or “[insert name] speaking”? Or do you simply pick up, breathe into the receiver, and hope the other person says something?

Well, the latter might be common among the workforce’s youngest members, as a number of recruiters have been pointing out a generational gap in phone etiquette.

“I just found out that Gen Z don’t answer the phone when they answer the phone,” one recruiter explained in a recent TikTok post, now with more than 1 million views. “I think it’s so weird, it’s so awkward.”

She is not the first to make this observation. Back in July, an X user’s post on the topic went viral.

“I’m a recruiter, so I do a TON of phone interviews and something I’ve noticed about Gen Z specifically is that a lot of them answer the phone and