Employer Policy and Practice Toward Older Workers in Hong Kong: The Role of Shifting Intergenerational Dynamics

ABSTRACT

Many governments are seeking to encourage the extension of working lives to counteract potential labor market shortages that might result from population aging. Nevertheless, research shows that older workers continue to face a range of barriers to their labor market participation. However, this research has not tended to take a holistic view of the factors shaping employer policy and practice or acknowledge that older workers’ experiences are embedded within broader social structures and age dynamics. This article reports on exploratory qualitative research undertaken in Hong Kong. It demonstrates how employer policy and practice toward older workers are shaped by intergenerational dynamics and by the social responsibility that employers feel toward different generations. It is argued that in order to more fully understand employer policy and practice toward older workers, an approach that acknowledges the social context and position of different age groups is required.

KEYWORDS:

• Older workers
• employer policy and practice
• intergenerational dynamics
• Hong Kong

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Research ethics statement

As part of the application for funding process, an ethics checklist was completed through Edinburgh Napier University’s research management system. This checklist was approved by the Edinburgh Napier University Business School ethics approver. A full application to Edinburgh Napier University Business School Research Integrity Committee for ethical approval was not required.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Lawrence Ho Research Fund (2016-2017).