Hello? HELLO?! Can You Take Off the Headphones, Please?

livemint.com:

Many bosses this fall are asking employees to spend more time in the office, talking up the joys of face-to-face collaboration and workplace camaraderie. Some workers are bringing headphones to tune out all the chatter. “It helps me feel like I’m in my own universe," said headphone-wearer Braydon Bippley, a 24-year-old social-media manager in Austin, Texas.

During the lockdown era, he became accustomed to isolating from noisy roommates with a soundtrack that leaned to Ariana Grande and other pop divas. For whatever reason, he said, “I cannot listen to men sing." Headphones—from discreet in-ear speakers to pilot-style behemoths—block noise and often aid concentration. They also can annoy the heck out of co-workers.

Anna Metcalf, an administrative assistant from South Amboy, N.J., said she sometimes has to wave her hand in the face of headphone-clad colleagues seemingly lost in music. “I feel like they’re ignoring me when I’m trying to talk to them," said Metcalf, 58, who works for Assured Guaranty. The biggest abuser was the intern who spent a large part of the day in headphones, laughing at videos on his phone while others worked, said Metcalf, who complained to a manager.

After losing headphone privileges, she recalled, the intern turned surly. “He was a total goofball," she said. Headphones have grabbed a small role in the return-to-office drama.

A handful of managers in Midtown Manhattan groused about employees now using headphones to dodge interactions. None of those interviewed wanted to go public about it, much less try to ban them. They don’t want to give grouchy employees something else to complain about.