Intergenerational contact and hiring decisions about older workers

Purpose - Although many older workers wish to work longer, they may not be hired due to negative attitudes against them. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of intergenerational contact in shaping hiring decisions. Drawing from the intergroup contact theory, the authors investigated affective and cognitive categorization reactions as predictors of decision-makers' willingness to hire older people and whether these relationships are moderated by intergenerational contact frequency and quality. Design/methodology/approach - The authors tested the hypotheses using data from 232 employees with hiring power. Findings - Results indicate that intergroup anxiety was negatively related to decision-makers' willingness to hire older people. Further, intergenerational contact frequency exacerbated the relationship between intergroup anxiety and willingness to hire older people; whereas intergenerational contact quality buffered the negative relationship. In addition, the authors found that intergenerational contact quality facilitated the positive relationship between perceived outgroup competence and willingness to hire older people. Originality/value - These findings extend previous research on older worker employment. In particular, they demonstrate how intergenerational contact frequency and quality can be powerful means that influence age-related hiring decisions.