But the communication tool is causing stress
Gen Z employees prefer communicating via email to avoid directly talking to their colleagues - but it's stressing them out, according to a new report.
ZeroBounce recently asked nearly 1,400 Gen Z employees in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other European countries about how they perceive emails.
About 42% said it was their favourite communication tool for professional purposes, with apps such as Slack and WhatsApp far behind at 20%.
Despite this, the report found that more than half of Gen Z (53%) feel stressed out over emails, with the report attributing it to an overflowing inbox.
Another cause of stress may be the formality of emails, with 57% saying they don't know how formal they should be. Others said they don't know:
"Many Gen Zers wonder how formal they should be in emails and avoid abbreviations because they worry about sounding unprofessional," said Liviu Tanase, founder and CEO of ZeroBounce, in a statement.
"We didn't expect a generation known for casual texts and DMs to stress so much over emails, but it's a reality – even among some of our own Gen Zers here at ZeroBounce."
The report also found that email makes 92% of the respondents feel less productive, including 10% who said they feel always less productive and 39% who said they feel sometimes.
But the strong preference for emails comes as 60% of Gen Zs said it is the perfect way to avoid face-to-face or video conversations when things get uncomfortable.
Dr. Catherine Wikholm, a clinical psychologist, said this behaviour can be considered a coping mechanism for anxiety.
"Social anxiety can significantly shape people's preferences around forms of communication. In this context, a strong preference for email could be a form of avoidance coping," Wikholm said in the report.
"This is a maladaptive coping mechanism that reduces anxiety in the moment, but actually maintains it and often exacerbates it in the longer term."
According to the psychologist, this limits young people's opportunity to build their tolerance for anxiety and learn that they can cope with these situations.
"Learning coping strategies such as grounding and breathing techniques can help to reduce anxiety symptoms. Also, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy strategies like graded exposure encourage a manageable, step-by-step approach towards facing fears, rather than avoiding them. This helps to build confidence and reduce anxiety in the long term," she said.
Tanase said their findings offer business leaders an opportunity to better connect with Gen Zs at work.
"Setting clear email expectations is a great first step," he said. "Also, creating an environment where all generations feel comfortable sharing ideas can make collaboration more natural and productive. There's room for growth on both sides."
