{"title":"Middle ageism: when social climate and perceived employability relate to attitudes and intent to hire middle-aged employees","authors":"Galy Binyamin, Yael Brender-Ilan","doi":"10.1108/edi-09-2021-0234","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"PurposeAs the global workforce ages, organizations face unprecedented challenges, especially managing effective communication between generations. The phenomenon of middle ageism (i.e. discriminating against middle-aged employees based on their age) has become more prevalent. The authors examined how contextual settings and communication affect attitudes toward middle-aged employees and hiring intentions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 537 employees from various organizations, via questionnaires. The moderated mediation model was analyzed using Hayes' PROCESS models.FindingsResults showed that attitudes toward middle-aged employees mediated the relationship between social climate of shared codes and language and hiring intentions. Social climate was positively related to attitudes toward their adaptability, but negatively to attitudes toward their ability. Also, decision-makers' own perceived employability moderated the relationship between attitudes toward employees' adaptability and hiring intentions, and the indirect relationship between social climate and hiring intentions.Practical implicationsSince age diversity is expected to become one of the most dominant diversity classifications in the very near future, coping with middle ageism constitutes a growing challenge for managers and HR staff. The findings indicate that in order to enhance sustainable employment and prevent discrimination, organizations need not only maintain a supportive climate for older employees, as an affirmative action, but also ensure better communication in terms of sharing codes and language that enhance positive attitudes toward middle-aged colleagues.Originality/valueIn an era where diversity and inclusion dominate human resource management decision making, this study contributes to the literature on the underexplored domain of age diversity.","PeriodicalId":72949,"journal":{"name":"Equality, diversity and inclusion : an international journal","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Equality, diversity and inclusion : an international journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-09-2021-0234","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
PurposeAs the global workforce ages, organizations face unprecedented challenges, especially managing effective communication between generations. The phenomenon of middle ageism (i.e. discriminating against middle-aged employees based on their age) has become more prevalent. The authors examined how contextual settings and communication affect attitudes toward middle-aged employees and hiring intentions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 537 employees from various organizations, via questionnaires. The moderated mediation model was analyzed using Hayes' PROCESS models.FindingsResults showed that attitudes toward middle-aged employees mediated the relationship between social climate of shared codes and language and hiring intentions. Social climate was positively related to attitudes toward their adaptability, but negatively to attitudes toward their ability. Also, decision-makers' own perceived employability moderated the relationship between attitudes toward employees' adaptability and hiring intentions, and the indirect relationship between social climate and hiring intentions.Practical implicationsSince age diversity is expected to become one of the most dominant diversity classifications in the very near future, coping with middle ageism constitutes a growing challenge for managers and HR staff. The findings indicate that in order to enhance sustainable employment and prevent discrimination, organizations need not only maintain a supportive climate for older employees, as an affirmative action, but also ensure better communication in terms of sharing codes and language that enhance positive attitudes toward middle-aged colleagues.Originality/valueIn an era where diversity and inclusion dominate human resource management decision making, this study contributes to the literature on the underexplored domain of age diversity.
随着全球劳动力的老龄化,组织面临着前所未有的挑战,尤其是管理几代人之间的有效沟通。中年歧视(即基于年龄歧视中年员工)的现象越来越普遍。作者研究了环境设置和沟通如何影响对中年员工的态度和雇佣意图。设计/方法/方法通过问卷调查从不同组织的537名员工中收集数据。采用Hayes' s PROCESS模型对有调节的中介模型进行分析。结果表明,对中年员工的态度在共享代码和语言的社会氛围与招聘意向之间起中介作用。社会氛围与适应性态度正相关,与能力态度负相关。决策者自身的就业能力感知调节了员工适应性态度与招聘意向之间的关系,以及社会氛围与招聘意向之间的间接关系。由于年龄多样性有望在不久的将来成为最主要的多样性分类之一,因此应对中年歧视对管理人员和人力资源人员构成了越来越大的挑战。研究结果表明,为了促进可持续就业和防止歧视,组织不仅需要保持对老年员工的支持氛围,作为一种平权行动,还需要确保在共享代码和语言方面进行更好的沟通,以增强对中年同事的积极态度。在一个多元化和包容性主导人力资源管理决策的时代,本研究对年龄多样性这一尚未被充分探索的领域做出了贡献。