Talk to anyone Gen-Z or younger, and there’s a good chance that they’ll tell you that they don’t like talking on the phone. In fact, one 2024 study said that a quarter of people between the ages of 18 and 34 never pick up the phone.

That may be for the best, because as recent evidence shows, they’re really, really bad at it.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, a recruiter recently made a post bemoaning how Gen Z handles phone interviews. In short, the recruiter says they’ll call at the agreed-upon time, they will hear the candidate pick up and then… nothing. No words, just silent breathing until the recruiter begins to speak. This isn’t a case of “unknown number” either — candidates are told which number will be calling and when and still decide to answer in this manner.

Unbelievably, many of the Gen-Z members seeing this post insisted that the *recruiter* was in the wrong. “If *you* call someone; you should talk first,” reads one response. “Everybody does this,” adds another.

No! As someone who has used a phone before, I assure you they don’t!

For those who apparently don’t know, you don’t need to overthink it: You can simply say “Hello.” Or you can hit ‘em with a classic Mr. Burns “Ahoy-hoy!”