The design and implementation of age-related HR practices across firms in institutional contexts: evidence from Thailand

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the design and implementation of age-related human resource (HR) practices across organizations located in the institutional contexts of the under-researched emerging market economy of Thailand. Design/methodology/approach A cross-case analysis of five organizations is conducted across industries. The empirical evidence in this paper draws on semistructured interviews and focus groups with older workers of each organization, semistructured interviews with top managers and/or HR managers of each organization, field visits to each organization located in Bangkok and other provinces in Thailand and a review of archival documents and Web-based resources. Findings This paper proposes that firms design and implement various age-related HR practices, including the extension of the retirement age, financial planning facilitation, the bundling of maintenance and the bundling of utilization, to ensure that older workers in their firms maintain their current level of functioning to cope with the problem of skill shortage in the Thai labor market, have sufficient savings after retirement to respond to the “productivist informal security” welfare state regime and return to previous levels of functioning after facing losses in their careers. Research limitations/implications Due to the fact that this research is based on case studies of age-related HR practices in five firms across industries in Thailand, the findings may not be generalizable to all other firms across countries. Rather, the aim of this paper is to enrich the discussion regarding the design and implementation of age-related HR practices in organizations. Another limitation of this research is that it does not include firms located in several industries, such as the financial services industry and the education industry. Future research may explore age-related HR practices in organizations located in these industries. Moreover, quantitative studies using large samples of firms across industries might also be useful for fostering an in-depth understanding of the design and implementation of age-related HR practices in organizations. Practical implications This paper provides practical implications for top managers and/or HR managers of firms in Thailand and other emerging market economies. That said, these top managers and/or HR managers can implement age-related HR practices to respond to the problem of skill shortage in the labor market, ensure that older workers have sufficient savings after retirement and help older workers return to previous levels of functioning after facing deterioration in health conditions and/or losses in their careers. Social implications This paper provides policy implications for the government and/or relevant public agencies of Thailand and other emerging market economies that still face a severe skill shortage problem. Older workers who possess tacit knowledge and valuable experience and are still healthy can be considered excellent alternates for firms to help alleviate the skill shortage problem in the labor market. However, firms should implement age-related HR practices to retain this group of employees overtime. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on comparative institutionalism and human resource management, specifically regarding age-related HR practices, in the following ways. First, this paper examines how firms design and implement age-related HR practices to respond to the country’s macro-level institutions. Additionally, in this paper, the author triangulates the findings from older workers with those from employers to ensure that actual HR practices perceived by older workers are in line with HR practices perceived by top managers and/or HR managers. Moreover, the literature on age-related HR practices has likely overlooked emerging market economies, including the under-researched country of Thailand, because most studies in this area have focused on developed economies. Therefore, the findings in this paper provide an in-depth analysis of the design and implementation of age-related HR practices across firms located in the emerging market economy of Thailand to respond to the national institutional context.