'It's offensive.' Boss pulls up employee for sending 'hey' on WhatsApp, netizens react

Everything and everyone has moved to digital world. Be it work or personal, the communication in this tech era flows through different instant messaging platforms including WhatsApp, which is widely used by many across the globe.

So when a picture of a young man’s WhatsApp ‘awkward’ chat with his boss found its way on the Internet, it grabbed the attention. Now if you’re wondering what’s so different about that, then here’s the catch. A simple “hey” from the employee to his boss started a debate between old-school people and new era generations.

In the screenshot, when asked about the submission of a particular test, the employee responded by saying, "Hey, No, not yet."


But the boss was not okay with the “hey” and expressed his disappointment.

Replying to the text, the boss wrote, "Please don't use the word 'hey'. It's offensive for me. If you can't remember my name, simply use 'Hi'."

The employer then went on to explain what other words should not be used professionally like 'Dude' and 'Man' by an employee.

However, the employee held his ground and reminded his boss that the conversation was taking place on WhatsApp and not over LinkedIn or an email.

“Well, considering that we are having a conversation over WhatsApp and not over LinkedIn or a mail chain. I'm just being casual as you are texting me on my personal number. And coming to being professional I'm not the one being offended,” the employee texted back.

To this, the boss replied, "WhatsApp is not personal space anymore, it has been used for business. I am not insisting my ideology on you. If you understand it, fine; or you will understand it sooner or later," followed by a smiling emoji.

A screenshot of this conversation led to a discussion over who is right. Several Reddit users weighed in on the matter. One person wrote, "I'd be calling him 'chap' in literally every communication."

"Agreed. You don't use a social media app like WhatsApp to have a professional relationship over the Internet. They should write a properly-formatted email." another person shared.