The sound of a ringing phone makes the heart 'skip'... Interviewed company calls feared by 'Callphobia Gen Z'

Job Search Situations Like Applications and Interviews Rank Overwhelmingly First
“Text Communication Is Convenient” Continues to Increase

The number of young people experiencing so-called 'call phobia,' a fear of talking on the phone with others, is increasing. They not only prefer text communication in everyday interactions but also tend to avoid face-to-face contact in work-related situations.

On the 11th, Albacheonguk, a job and part-time job portal, released the results of a survey on 'communication methods' conducted with 765 Generation Z respondents.

According to the survey, 40.8% of respondents reported experiencing symptoms of call phobia. Compared to the results of the same survey conducted over the past three years, the response rate has shown an increasing trend, with 30.0% and 35.7% respectively.

The specific symptoms of call phobia included 'high tension and anxiety before answering the phone (68.3%, multiple responses)' as the most significant, followed by ▲delaying or not answering when the phone rings (54.2%) ▲worrying excessively about what to say or what was said during the call (48.7%) ▲physical symptoms such as a rapid heartbeat or cold sweat during the call (23.4%).

In particular, 'when making job-related calls such as applications or interviews (76.3%, multiple responses)' was overwhelmingly ranked first as a situation where call phobia is most prominent.

In fact, looking at the 'part-time job application methods' in Albacheonguk's job data, the proportion of 'phone applications,' which accounted for 45.1% in the first half of 2021, decreased to 35.5% in the first half of this year. On the other hand, the proportion of 'text applications' increased by 11.9 percentage points, from 14.6% to 26.4%.

Generation Z individuals who suffer from call phobia cited 'having to answer immediately without time to organize their thoughts (66.3%, multiple responses)' as the most difficult aspect of phone calls. Other reasons included ▲worrying about not being able to express their thoughts properly (62.2%) ▲preferring non-face-to-face communication such as texts and messages (46.5%).

Conversely, the preferred communication method was 'text communication' such as text messages and messaging apps. The percentage of respondents who preferred text communication steadily increased from 59.3% in 2022 to 69.9% in 2023 and 73.9% in 2024. Meanwhile, the proportion of those who preferred 'phone communication' showed a decreasing trend, dropping from 19.9% to 14.3% and then to 11.4%.