Do stereotypes about older workers change? A panel study on changing attitudes of managers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to see whether attitudes toward older workers by managers change over time and what might explain development over time. Design/methodology/approach A unique panel study of Dutch managers is used to track the development of their attitudes toward older workers over time (2010–2013) by focusing on a set of qualities of older workers aged 50 and older. A conditional change model is used to explain the variation in changes by focusing on characteristics of the manager (age, education, gender, tenure and contact with older workers) and of the firm (composition staff, type of work and sector, size). Findings Managers have significantly adjusted their views on the so-called “soft skills” of older workers, like reliability and loyalty. Attitudes toward “hard skills” – like physical stamina, new tech skills and willingness to train – have not changed. Important drivers behind these changes are the age of the manager – the older the manager, the more likely a positive change in attitude toward older workers can be observed – and the change in the quality of contact with older workers. A deterioration of the managers’ relationship with older workers tends to correspond with a decline in their assessment of soft and hard skills. Social implications Attitudes are not very susceptible to change but this study shows that a significant change can be expected simply from the fact that managers age: older managers tend to have a more positive assessment of the hard and soft skills of older workers than young managers. Originality/value This paper offers novel insights into the question whether stereotypes of managers change over time.

What Do the Managers Think of Us? The Older-Worker-Perspective of Managers’ Attitudes

“…When comparing ISCO group 1–4 (mainly seated work) with ISCO group 5–9 (mainly physical work), employees from ISCO group 5–9 were significantly less likely to report their managers to have four out of the five positive attitudes, the exception being, “Older workers are easy to cooperate with”. These findings support previous studies indicating that the attitudes towards older workers varies across occupational groups [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 27 ] and that managers in white-collar jobs may have less negative attitudes towards older workers [ 21 , 22 ]. Surprisingly, the results showed that respondents from ISCO groups 5–9 were also significantly less likely to believe their managers to have three of the five directly negative perceptions of older workers.…”

“…In addition, findings indicate that older managers [ 13 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] and managers that are in more frequent contact with older workers [ 13 ] hold more positive attitudes towards older workers. A recent study found that concrete experiences with older workers influenced the managers′ perceptions of older workers [ 24 ], indicating that it is not enough merely to have frequent contact with older workers to develop more positive attitudes towards them; the concrete experiences have to be positive.…”

“…Furthermore, there are indications in the literature that both the extent and nature of the attitudes towards older workers among managers vary across occupational groups [ 17 , 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], and that that managers’ attitudes towards older workers may be less negative in white-collar jobs [ 21 , 22 ]. Furthermore, qualitative results illustrate that the nature of the negative attitudes may also differ between physically demanding jobs and white-collar jobs.…”

Attitudes of Polish Entrepreneurs towards 65+ Knowledge Workers in the Context of Their Pro-Social Attitude and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

“…The results obtained in the article cited above also confirms the conclusions of other authors [50] who conducting research among Dutch managers during 2010-2013, regarding the attitudes and conditioning towards older employees. Although research has shown lasting stability of attitudes, their slight variation was observed among others depending on the age of managers, their education, gender, seniority and experience in relations with older employees.…”

Életkori diszkrimináció a magyar munkaerőpiacon. Visszajelzések a fiatalabb, illetve az idősebb nők állásjelentkezéseire

“…Riach-Rich [2010] szerint az első ilyen jellegű kordiszkriminációt bemutató cikk Jowell-Prescott-Clarke [1970] volt. mára ez a módszer általánossá vált, és mint ahogy Dalen-Henkens [2019] megmutatta, arra is kiválóan alkalmas, hogy feltárják a munkáltatói elképzelésekben a körülmények hatására bekövetkezett változásokat. a kutatás leírása 1 Kísérletünkben két-két női állásjelentkezőt "alkottunk meg" önéletrajzzal, fényképpel és a valóságban is létező telefonnal, e-mail-címmel együtt.…”