Desire to Retire: Increasing Age Diversity in the Workplace

1223 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: age groups in the workplace

Desire to Retire: Increasing Age Diversity in the Workplace
As a result of demographic changes in many industrialized countries, organizations are experiencing increased age diversity (Hertel, Van der Heijden, de Lange, & Deller, 2013a). In the US, this is due to the aging baby boom generation (Schram, 2006), and organizations are faced with adjusting to the changing demographic. By contrast, in Europe and China the labor force is shrinking (Cheung & Wu, 2013; Schermuly, Deller, & Busch, 2014), thus requiring organizations to find ways to recruit and retain older workers. In this paper, I will explore increasing age diversity in the workplace as it relates to employment relations, age discrimination, age diversity challenges, and age diversity benefits.
Employment Relations
As the population ages, there will be changes in the employment relationship between older workers and their employers. When workers age, they tend to perceive more limited room for further growth in the organization and their primary focus is to maintain their current job (Cheung & Wu, 2013). Older workers also have a higher sense of generativity, which is a desire to pass on knowledge and skills to another generation (Schermuly et al., 2014). These two examples would lead to a more stable employment relationship between an aging workforce and their organizations.
However, many research studies have shown older workers to be the targets of persistent negative perceptions (Hertel, Van der Heijden, de Lange, & Deller, 2013b; Hippel, Kalokerinos, & Henry, 2013; Ostroff & Atwater, 2003). Stereotype threat occurs when an individual believes that they may be the target of demeaning stereotypes (Hippel et al., 2013). Stereotype threat experienced by older w...

... middle of paper ...

...3), 382-393. doi: 10.1177/0164027513508288
Schermuly, C. C., Schroder, T., Nachtwei, J., Kauffeld, S., & Glas, K. (2012). Die Zukunft der Personalentwicklung. Eine Delphi-Studie [The future of human resource development. A delphy study]. Zeitschrift fur Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie, 56, 111–122. doi:10.1026/0932-4089/a000078
Schram, J. (2006). SHRM Workplace Forecast. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.
Van der Heijden, B.I.J.M., de Lange, A.H., Demerouti, E. & Van der Heijde, C.M. (2009). Age effects on the employability-career success relationship. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(2), 156-164. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2008.12.009
Von Hippel, C., Kalokerinos, E. K., & Henry, J. D. (2013). Stereotype threat among older employees: Relationship with job attitudes and turnover intentions. Psychology and Aging, 28(1), 17-27. doi:10.1037/a0029825

Show More
Related

  • The Concept Of White Opportunity In Society, By Richard T. Schaefer

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stereotypes that are associated with a group of older individuals might consist of this particular group being less productive than younger workers within the workplace because of the label attached to their age group. Other aspects that are associated with this group is that they are susceptible to contracting Alzheimer’s disease and they are “boring” or “forgetful”, I feel as though this is the most common stereotype. It is quite unfortunate that this type of discrimination still persists. Though, no act of discrimination should exist or be justified. It is evident that one will follow a social cue to fit in with individuals of a certain group. Author Schaefer mentions that social circumstances provide cues for a person’s attitudes. (Schaefer, 2015. Pg. 38). This notion influences others to act in a particular manner in order to receive a positive or negative reaction from individuals in their proximity. These reactions result from acts or expressions of prejudice. The normative approach, a theory of prejudice, is an exemplification of

    Read More

  • Stereotypes in Older Adults

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stereotypes affect the day to day living of the elderly, whether it is through job attainment and sustainability, access and use of healthcare, and overall personal autonomy. Due to the current aging population the government of Canada has eliminated the mandatory retirement age and is looking to raise the retirement age (Minichiello, Browne, & Kendig, 2000), from 65 to at least 70, to ensure financial stability for all in the long term (Novac et al., 2014). From the elimination of a mandatory retirement age the older workers have been subject to experience discrimination and stereotypes due to the ability to work for longer periods. Currently for every five working age people (15yrs-64yrs) there is one aged worker (65+yrs) and it is predicted that by 2050 one in less than three (estimated 2.5) will be an aged worker (Government of Canada, 2012). Positive stereotypes include a great knowledge base and the ability to perform certain tasks through experience (Greenlees, Webb, Hall, & Manley, 2007). Negative stereotypes include being frail and in poor physical shape to perform laborious tasks leading to a lack of produ...

    Read More

  • Discrimination In Ageism

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    Elderly folks are eminently mature and have the finest instinct about what is right and wrong though It’s challenging to change someone’s point of view in a matter like this. When such injustice takes place, it de-motivates senior workers from their work. In an article over Ageists by Vincent J Roscigno, he states facts about different views on older Americans in general and in workplaces such as, “most of the population consists of biases and preconceptions, and the accused are unashamed in their views of older Americans. Those who believe that younger employees have much more value than senior employees are inserting a strong assumption based on their age. “Ageist attitudes and discrimination is what results in lower levels of overall organizational commitment to older workers, and a “push” out of a particular workplace.” Just because of an older employee’s depiction, such unfairness circulates in workplaces which cause false impressions of older

    Read More

  • Examples Of Ageism In To Kill A Mockingbird

    607 Words  | 2 Pages

    For an example “The common theme is a fear or a reluctance to hire people under 30, because they are unpredictable, and, ‘they don’t know how to work,’” says Cam Marston (Wooldridge). In the same way this goes along with older people seemly more intelligent, Reliable instead of collage kids which briefly explains why it’s hard to find a job in that sense. Additionally labeling helps discriminate millennia’s especially if from older employees example “Wilkie notes that it’s common for older workers to see younger workers as a threat, and take the easy way out by labeling them as somehow different” (Wooldridge). Hence the reason the older won’t like the younger because of the fear being replaced so they start shaming millennia’s. This is important because ageism is seriously a huge common stereotype in a sense people might judge you on because they feel

    Read More

  • Ageism In American Culture

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    (Bendick, Brown & Wall, 1999). A new awareness of older workers has emerged as retiring

    Read More

  • Age Discrimination

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stossel and Mastropolo’s thesis did not come until at the middle of the article when they talked about how Murray Schwartz is convinced “that older people can do the job just as well as younger people and believes that employment age discrimination laws are a crucial protection for older workers” (paragraph 11). With this issue, there are two sides of argument in this article: one is from the corporate as to why it is a necessity to fire people when they come of age, and the second one is from the workers being affected at this age discrimination. There are several people applying for jobs these days and a company attempts to fill that job with the best qualified person. If a per...

    Read More

  • Diversity

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Diversity can be differences in age, gender, ethnicity, and religion. Having such a diverse workforce can be very challenging. (1) Today’s workforce is very diverse in respect to age. Before, corporate America consisted of workers ranging from twenty one up to late thirties to early forties. Now, we see people in their mid to late fifties going back to work. This trend has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of an older employee over a younger employee is his ability to use his years of experience in situations where a younger employee lacks experience. Another advantage for an older employee is his built relationship with existing customers. The disadvantage of an older employee over a younger employee is his inability to quickly adapt to his changing environment. Younger employees are more “hungry” compared to their older counter parts. Their hunger is fired by their goal to quickly move up the corporate ladder.

    Read More

  • Ageism: The Categorization Of The Old Age

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main reaction is anxiety; it is believed that elders remind others of what they will exist as, wrinkles, gray hair, and all. People do not want to face the reality of fading beauty, weaker joints, and certainly not the closeness of death. One must ask, “How do these feelings about negative stereotypes affect the elderly themselves?” Several analyses have shown that implied grooming of harmful age stereotypes can alter physical and cognitive functioning. For example, a study found stereotype related increases in blood pressure, skin conductance, and moodiness or nervousness among a sample of middle-aged and older men. A key finding from this study was that the fear of being perceived as sick could dissuade people from seeking medical help (Auman,

    Read More

  • Motivating the Aging Workforce: A New Perspective

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Traditionally, the role of motivation in the work place has been tailored to the average worker. In a lot of motivational research, the common focus revolves around how to motivate employees to be the best and most productive version of themselves. As today’s workforce is becoming increasingly dominated by an aging population of workers, the image of the average worker changes. The average age of retirement is on the climb and as a result recent literature in Industrial/Organizational Psychology has begun to focus upon how to how effectively motivate the aging and elderly portion of the workforce. In addition, recent research has begun to focus on how to properly motivate employees to maintain an optimal level of performance as they age. The

    Read More

  • Stereotype Threat

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inzlicht, Michael. Stereotype threat: theory, process, and application. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.

    Read More

  • Workforce Diversity In The 21st Century

    2357 Words  | 5 Pages

    The focus of this paper is to elaborate on the changing landscape of work in America during the twenty-first century. According to the researchers, as the economy continues to slowly recover from the recession and economic crisis, more of our baby boomers are reentering the workforce. In addition to the introduction of automation and computer technologies into the workplace, this has dramatically changed the nature of jobs for the older workers (Czaja and Sharit 2009). As stated in the Government Accountability Office in 2006, the number of workers over age 55 is projected to increase significantly over the next 20 years. Evidence shows that ageism, stereotypes, and misinformation about our older population continue to be major issues across

    Read More

  • Essay On Age Discrimination

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    Age discrimination continues to be a problem for both men and women that are over the age of 40 in the workforce. In year 1967, the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act ADEA was passed to prohibit discrimination against workers over age 40 and older. Another law in the year 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, or national origin. However there are still age discrimination and it seems to be more especially for older women more than older men. The Federal and the state should implement more regulations to protect workers' rights in all age groups, both in the younger and older generation including their race and gender.

    Read More

  • Career Management/Development

    3754 Words  | 8 Pages

    The essay briefly aims to explore the meaning of career Management/Development and its importance for both individual and organisations, and then it will evaluate the relevance of career management/development as an integral part of HR activities from the mutual perspectives of the organisation and individual employees. This essay will also explore the barriers to achieving career management/development practice in organisations and how these barriers could be overcome. Finally the essay will highlight the career management practices of King Specialist Faisal Hospital and Research Centre (public sector), which will lead to the conclusion.

    Read More

  • Workplace Diversity and Work/Life Balance

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    Workplace diversity has become a growing concern within organizations. Managers are now challenged with learning new ways to effectively communicate the importance of embracing different races and ethnicities. Diversity encompasses many different characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity, religion and disabilities (Robbins). As of late, age has become more of a concern as the baby boomer generation begins to reach retirement age; many are not retiring early but instead are working well into their seventies. Unfortunately for those baby boomers, the number of retirees decreased during the 2008-2009 recession mostly due to economic struggle. People cannot afford to retire, perhaps because they did not save enough for retirement or had to dip into their retirement fund to survive earlier in life. In addition to age discrimination, gender discrimination is another common diversity issue. According to “Organizational Behavior,” as of 2000, more women are working full time, have more education, and have started to close the earning gap between men and women (Robbins). Most commonly, women are targeted in the workplace fo...

    Read More

  • Essay On Personality And Values

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    Robbins (2013) recognizes that baby boomers have an enormous hard-working attitude with a definitive want to characterize themselves through their expert achievements. Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 value their achievement, ambition, loyalty to career and dislike to authority in competitive workplace (Robbins and Judge, 2017). Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1977, who are independent-minded like work-life balance, team-oriented, loyalty to relationship and dislike of rules. The generation born between 1978 and later, known as Millennials value flexible hours, teamwork and collaborative culture, career development, loyalty to both self and relationships with employers and dislike the formality of regular meetings if there

    Read More

More about Desire to Retire: Increasing Age Diversity in the Workplace

Open Document