JPMorgan Chase made it possible to eliminate voicemails for employees who didn’t have direct contact with clients as part of a company-wide effort to reduce costs. Over $3 million was saved annually by the offer being accepted by approximately 65% of JPMorgan Chase employees. Executives say that the decision is overdue, pointing out that most workers–particularly those under 40–have long relied on e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, or social media to reach others on the job and in their daily lives. Over the past decade, these technologies have ushered in a new era of communication–redefining standards of etiquette, introducing new tensions between generations, and prompting concerns that the timbre of our voices will soon be drowned out by the click-clack of keyboards.
JPMorgan’s decision not to allow voicemail is the latest indication that the service is in trouble. When Coca-Cola made the same move last year, only 6% decided to keep it. Citigroup and Bank of America may follow suit. Vonage reported that voicemail messages on user accounts fell 8% in 2012, while the number who were able retrieve them dropped 14%. Michael Schlage of Harvard Business Review urged companies not to keep voicemail. “A communication medium that was once indispensable has become as clunky, irrelevant as Microsoft DOS.
Like many other declining technologies, the exodus was led by young people. One Gallup poll from 2014 revealed a simple truth: text messages have become the most popular form of communication among Millennials. Fully 68% (18-29-years-old) said that they texted “a lot”, compared to 47% for those aged 30-49 and 26% for those 50-64 years. Older Nielsen data shows that the average monthly voice minute used by 18-to 34-year olds dropped from around 1,200 in 2008 down to 900 in 2010. This period saw texting increase by more than two-thirds among 18-24-year-olds, with 600 to 1,400 texts per day.
Why is it that Millennials are reluctant to answer their phones? Many people view the phone’s intrusiveness and presumptuous nature as a reason why they are turning down calls. According to one young worker, calling someone “without emailing first” can make it appear that you are prioritizing their needs over theirs. Task-oriented Millennial employees want to know the right thing to do. Reading emotions can be a tedious chore. They choose to communicate with their boss using the most efficient communication method. This is reflected in their communications more broadly. According to one employer, Millennial workers prefer to get straight to the point and skip the small talk.
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However, there are some skeptics to texting. Messages are so condensed that they often fail to convey the sender’s intended meaning and tone, causing misunderstandings–and that’s not even factoring in the confusion of “autocorrect fails.” To eliminate these misunderstandings, messaging apps like Viber and Line have even experimented with more visually-based texting that’s virtually impossible to misinterpret.
You can also use the buffer of messaging to avoid awkward face-to-face interactions. High school students were taught “Face It, don’t Facebook it” during an etiquette seminar by the Boston Public Health Commission. However, Xers and first-wave Millennials don’t fare much better. A 2013 survey found that 59% would or might break off with someone they were casually dating via text. Only 24% would consider ending a relationship exclusively this way. Figures that would send Emily Post to her grave.
For professions that rely on their gift of gab, texting can pose additional problems. One example is personal rapport. This is why some companies have hired consultants to help Millennial employees feel more at ease on the phone. Big Data is being used by some companies to modify their sales process. Companies can use tools such as Salesforce to create detailed customer profiles and determine which customers they should contact.
It is clear that traditional conversation isn’t dead. Every new communication tool that has been developed over the last century has caused similar worries. And people haven’t stopped yakking through it all. Contrary to the stereotype that Millennials are constantly hunched over their phones and oblivious to other communication technologies, a Bentley University survey found that 51% prefer to speak with coworkers in person to compare to texting or e-mail (14%),
The reality is that communication preferences today are causing a perception gap between generations. Parents may assume their child is deliberately not responding to calls or listening to voicemails, when in fact they would reply to texts within seconds. The Washington Post heard from a Millennial that she asked her mom to text over calling when she was asking. Do you not like to hear from us? You don’t like my voice.” On the other hand, a Boomer boss may be annoyed at the presumption that a Millennial worker sends him a message.
Others are worried about the consequences of today’s text-friendly culture. Many Homelanders were exposed to it from birth. While some researchers believe that this immersion may reduce Homelanders’ ability for empathy and interpretation of nonverbal cues, optimists contend that it will promote closer personal relationships. Digital messaging tends to complement rather than replace face to face time.
It is safe to assume, however, that the majority of next-generation conversations won’t include voicemail recordings, which observers have already discarded as obsolete. NPR asked one 26-year-old about the future of voicemail. “Voicemail could evolve into something kinda special and exciting,” he stated. “Like a once-popular telegram.”