Work Design: Increasing the well-being of older workers. Quantitative research on how work design relates to the well-being of older workers
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2023-07-10
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en
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The global population is experiencing population aging, leading to an increase in the proportion of older individuals. The Netherlands is one of the countries grappling with this demographic shift. As more people remain capable of working in their older years, the concept of an aging workforce emerges, requiring organizations to adapt their work environments to accommodate the unique needs of older workers. Enhancing workplace well-being is crucial for retaining older workers and improving organizational performance. However, there is a lack of focus on well-being among older workers in existing research. Work design, including dimensions such as flexible work time arrangements, flexible workplace arrangements, ergonomic working conditions, and work according to capabilities, have been identified as practices that positively impacts well-being. Gender differences in the workforce further influence the relationship between work design and well-being, as women tend to face more challenges in physically and mentally demanding jobs. Therefore, gender is added as a moderator in this research topic to find out if gender moderates the relationship between work design and well-being of older workers.
The current study is part of a larger international study in human resource management, called the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI), which is created by the University of Luneburg to assess organizational aspects regarding the employment of age-diverse and older workforces. Through a quantitative research method, a survey was used to collect data from Dutch respondents who were above 50 years old and were still working more than 20 hours a week in a company larger than 30 employees. The study resulted in a conclusion that, work design in general has a positive significant relationship with well-being among older workers. However, this relationship is not moderated by gender as there was no significant relationship found. The four dimensions of work design did also not have a significant relationship with the variable well-being. However, a control variable company size showed a negative significant relationship with the variable well-being. This can be understood as how bigger the size of the company, how lower older workers report their well-being.
This study aimed to investigate the impact of work design on the well-being of older workers, with gender as a potential moderator. By examining the dimensions of work design and their effects on well-being, this research tried to contribute empirical evidence to the literature, fill the knowledge gap in HR practices, and shed light on gender differences in work design for the aging workforce. This research contributed to the HR literature that work design in general indeed has an effect on the well-being of older workers. This study gives organizations and HR professionals the insights that they should invest in work design practices and alterations that optimally support the older workforce and increases the well-being of older workers.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen