How are workplace manners and etiquette changing

Yahoo Finance Live anchors Rachelle Akuffo, Dave Briggs, and Seana Smith debate whether or not workplace politeness is a thing of the past.

影片文字轉錄稿

RACHELLE AKUFFO: The pandemic, a generational shift, whatever the causes may be, a new story in the Wall Street Journal says that workplace etiquette may be becoming a relic of the past. They're saying people aren't responding to emails, but perhaps being a bit terse. We know that, especially when people were applying for jobs, a lot of these employers were like, hey, where's the cover letter, or they wouldn't send thank yous and things like that. Do you think we're becoming ruder in the workplace, guys?

SEANA SMITH: I'll jump in first, Dave, unless-- I guess so. I don't know. I mean, I think people are just being a little bit too sensitive about this. Yes, I do think people might be a little bit more hesitant to shake hands than they were pre-pandemic for obvious reasons. But I do find it interesting that, I guess, people aren't writing a cover letter or writing thank you notes if they do interview for a job because that's just not smart. You're not going to get the job if you don't do those things properly.

Maybe you will get a second look because we are in such a tight labor market. But it's just not smart. So I don't know if people are just paying more attention to this now, or if it's something like handshaking, Dave, that's just so obvious that maybe you and I and Rachelle, too, we were very accustomed to doing that pre-pandemic.

DAVE BRIGGS: Well, employers are even saying people are no showing on job offers. So I think there is no question about it people are far ruder at the office now across the board. But I think we're ruder in all aspects of life today than we were in a prior generation. You can blame Gen Z, and in part, that is a part of it. The tight labor market, a part of it. And COVID is certainly a part of it, and the remote work that we were all doing. We forgot how to interact with people.

Look, some of my best friends over the years were developed at work. And you're finding younger workers don't have any interest in having and developing work friendships. I think that's really unfortunate. I think there's something being lost. One bit of good news here, LinkedIn says their business etiquette courses, their two most popular are up 127%. So at least people are acknowledging there's a problem, Rachelle.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: See, I agree. At least people know they're being rude because the thing is when you're sort of by yourself, perhaps working from home, if you're being a jerk, there isn't anyone to sort of tap you on the shoulder and say you're being a bit of a jerk, whereas if you're in public, if you're out and about, you're more likely to notice that. So at least, people are doing something about it. But I do think it is a broader symptom of the general sort of rudeness or perhaps just the shorter fuses that people seem to have coming out of COVID as well.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, generally speaking, I think people are just getting ruder across the board. And that is unfortunate. Let's just blame it on COVID, like we do so many other things. Well, that'll do it for us on a big news here day on Yahoo Finance Live. For Seana Smith and Rachelle Akuffo, I'm Dave Briggs. Keep calm and carry on. We'll see you tomorrow 3 o'clock Eastern time.