Employee perceptions and work attitudes toward older workers : a generation examination.

Abstract

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates a shortage of employees by 2010, a result of older workers retiring and fewer skilled younger workers. Organizations should encourage older workers to remain in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to examine employee perceptions and work attitudes toward older workers among all generations. It was hypothesized that employees will exhibit negative perceptions and work attitudes toward the Veteran generation. Data on 183 employees were used to test the research hypotheses. Generation Y negative perceptions and work attitudes were found to exist toward the Veteran group. Veteran negative perceptions and work attitudes were found to exist toward Generation X. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.