Who is considered an ‘older worker'? Extending our conceptualisation of ‘older’ from an organisational decision maker perspective

Abstract

A refinement of the construct of age, specifically ‘older’, is recognised as a critical measurement concern for experts in both ageing research and policy formation. In this context, we set out to both chronologically define an ‘older worker’ and to identify on what basis the age of ‘older’ is determined. In doing so, we draw on open‐ended survey data (collected in 2011) from a sample of 407 organisational decision makers across all industries in Ireland. Our focus was specifically on the perspective of organisational decision makers because these individuals will be instrumental in facing the challenges associated with workforce ageing. The results show that workers are considered as ‘older’ at a younger age than might be expected and that decision makers conceptualise workers as ‘older’ using various approaches in the organisational context. Our findings contribute to the literature in three ways: firstly, by providing an important empirically derived understanding of the term ‘older worker’; secondly, by empirically examining previously suggested ‘possible’ indicators of age; and thirdly, by demonstrating that these indicators are conceptually and empirically distinct, advancing theory on the concept of age in the workplace.

Age as double‐edged sword among victims of customer mistreatment: A self‐esteem threat perspective

“…Although they technically do not fall under the standard rubric for “aging” research, these service workers remain above the typical age for service workers in industry. Indeed, managers in retail and hospitality industries reported that their definition of “older worker” was actually fairly young because workers in their sectors tend to skew much younger (McCarthy, Heraty, Cross, & Cleveland, ). Regardless, the findings here do present implications for adult development (i.e., age‐related changes that occur as adults progress from young adulthood through middle adulthood to older adulthood) but not directly for adults in late life per se.…”

Older workers: stereotypes and occupational self-efficacy

“…We chose to use the cutoff of 50 years to distinguish older workers from younger workers. Even if there is little consensus on the chronological age (or ages) at which an "older worker" is defined, a number of previous studies have used 50 years old as cut-off (McCarthy et al, 2014) and, furthermore, according to managers' opinion, the "limit of employment" seems to be 50 years (see, Karpinska et al, 2013). Based on previous findings, which showed that the same age stereotypes are shared by people of different ages, we expect that:…”

Wasted youth in the hospitality industry: Older workers’ perceptions and misperceptions about younger workers

“…However, age norms are fluid and reflect not only chronological age bands, but are shaped by societal expectations and the sectoral context. McCarthy et al (2014) suggest that decision-makers in organizations consider workers as 'older' from the chronological age of 52; however, in hospitality, the descriptor 'older' applies to people at a younger age than in other sectors (Barron et al 2014;Lucas 2007), across different national contexts. Ageist attitudes are revealed in management attitudes towards older employees in Norway (Furunes and Mykletun 2007), and in the United Kingdom, a bar manager may be considered 'too old' at the age of 30 (Nickson and Warhurst 2007).…”