Age discrimination in the labour market from the perspectives of employers and older workers

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study on age discrimination against older workers in Hong Kong. The study collected survey data from 787 older workers aged 45 or above and 283 employers who were managers responsible for personnel or human resources management, or for hiring people for organizations. The focus is on revealing the influences of the organizational goals of profit-making and social responsibility on age discrimination, along with influences from negative stereotyping and other factors. Results indicate that the social responsibility goal tends to be more influential than negative stereotyping on age discrimination. In contrast, the profit-making goal did not display a significant effect on age discrimination. They offer implications for policies and practices for managing the ageing workforce in the labour market.