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

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  • Heike Schroder
  • Dirk Hofacker
  • Michael Muller-Camen

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Heike Schroder & Dirk Hofacker & Michael Muller-Camen, 2009. "HRM and the employment of older workers: Germany and Britain compared," International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(2/3), pages 162-179.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijhrdm:v:9:y:2009:i:2/3:p:162-179
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    Cited by:

    1. Sotiris Blanas, 2017. "Offshoring and the Age-Skill Composition of Labour Demand," Working Papers 209919378, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.

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