HRM and the employment of older workers: Germany and Britain compared

Article


Schroeder, H., Hofacker, D. and Muller-Camen, M. 2009. HRM and the employment of older workers: Germany and Britain compared. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management. 9 (2-3), pp. 162-179. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJHRDM.2009.023451
TypeArticle
TitleHRM and the employment of older workers: Germany and Britain compared
AuthorsSchroeder, H., Hofacker, D. and Muller-Camen, M.
Abstract

This study examines Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices towards older workers in Britain and Germany. While it is widely suggested that older workers have to be better integrated into the labour market, youth-centric HRM is still prevalent. However, HRM is shaped by multiple and contradictory pressures from the international and national institutional environments. We test this dynamic by analysing two national surveys, the German firm panel (IAB) and the British Workplace and Employment Relations Survey (WERS). Our findings suggest that the institutional environment shapes HR policies and practices distinctively in both countries. We find that age discrimination at the workplace is more prevalent in Germany than in Britain, which can be explained by divergent institutional patterns. As a result, we argue that although both countries will have to continue fostering an age-neutral HR approach, this has to take country-specific institutional peculiarities into account.

PublisherInterscience Enterprises
JournalInternational Journal of Human Resources Development and Management
ISSN1465-6612
Publication dates
Print2009
Publication process dates
Deposited09 Mar 2009
Output statusPublished
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1504/IJHRDM.2009.023451
LanguageEnglish
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