Phone Coach: Gen Z Call Anxiety Is Widespread

Mary Jane Copps, a conversation coach, said anxiety around phone calls is prevalent among Gen Zers and millennial professionals. Copps, who goes by “The Phone Lady,” has spent two decades coaching people on phone communication.

The observation comes from a career spent helping workers overcome phone fear. Copps said the anxiety is especially common among younger employees, who grew up texting and messaging rather than making voice calls.

That avoidance can hurt workplace efficiency. Simple tasks – scheduling a meeting, clarifying a deadline, or handling a customer complaint – often drag out when a five-minute call gets replaced by a chain of emails or texts. Managers may interpret phone reluctance as hesitation or lack of confidence.

Copps did not offer a fix beyond practice. The problem, she said, is less about skill and more about discomfort with the format itself. “It's a muscle that hasn't been exercised,” she said.

The trend is not new but has become more visible as remote work reduces face-to-face interaction. Without the hallway conversation or the desk drop-in, the phone remains the only real-time alternative to text – and many young professionals avoid it.