@jwhevans It's not only engineers. My wife's an academic in her 40s - she nearly refuses to make outgoing calls that aren't prescheduled or to a close family member.
I think we've moved to a point where people see phone calls as highly pressuring on both ends.
I don't mind it as much as others, but looking back on my youth when I just cold-ass called people all that time. It seems super odd now to make someone drop everything and talk to you randomly.