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With age diversity in the workplace becoming increasingly prevalent, the conflict between younger and older workers can be pervasive because of their increased interpersonal tensions from heterogeneous interactions. Adopting an identity-based approach, this study aims to examine the causes, underlying mechanisms and specific strategies used to manage such conflict. It was hypothesized that there is an interaction effect between age-group identification and organizational identification on conflict strategies and that this relationship can be explained by the mediating role of motivational goal orientation.

A total of 380 clerical workers in Hong Kong, aged 19–65, responded to two hypothetical scenarios about conflict with a younger and an older worker using a structured questionnaire on social identity, motivational goal orientation and conflict strategies. Moderated mediation analyzes were performed to test the hypothesized conditional indirect effects.

Results showed that workers who identified with the organization emphasized less on independent goals (with a younger opposing party) and more on cooperative goals (with an older opposing party) when they did not perceive an age-group differentiation, and thus, they were more likely to respond in a way that de-escalates the conflict, including the use of integrating, obliging and compromising strategies.

Extending age-related conflict research beyond identifying generational differences, this study highlights the role of social identity and suggests that employers and managers should strengthen employees’ organizational identification and build a fair work environment that facilitates positive interaction between younger and older workers.

With a growing number of older workers in the labor force, cultivating an age-friendly working environment becomes increasingly important. Inspired by the job demands–resources (JD-R) model, this study aims to investigate whether the negative effects of perceived age discrimination (PAD) on work-related outcomes would be explained by job resources and demands.

A total of 333 Hong Kong Chinese employees aged 40 and above (M = 46.62, SD = 6.21; 60% female) completed an online survey that covered measures on workplace age discrimination, job resources and demands, work engagement, intention to stay and work strain.

PAD at work was associated with reduced job resources and increased job demands. The results of the mediation analyses showed support from supervisor and coworkers could account for the effects of PAD on work engagement and intention to stay, whereas emotional demand or workload could explain the effects of PAD on work engagement and work strain.

The findings of this research unveil the underlying mechanisms between age discrimination and work-related outcomes through job resources and job demands. Cultivating a supportive organizational climate toward older employees and offering awareness-based training programs are necessary to mitigate age biases in the workplace.

Building on the JD-R model, this study revealed the possible mechanism underlying the negative effects of PAD. Perceptions of age discrimination decrease older workers' job resources and increase their job demands, subsequently lower their work engagement and intention to stay and increase their work strain.

This study aimed to examine younger and older employees’ use of five conflict strategies to handle an actual conflict incident with other employees. With reference to the socioemotional selectivity theory, this study tests whether older employees, as compared with younger employees, would use more avoiding to handle conflicts with supervisors but less dominating to handle conflicts with subordinates. Moreover, this study investigates whether the interaction effect between role of the conflict partner and age would be explained by goal interdependence. Furthermore, it also tests whether the negative effect of avoiding on interpersonal relations and job satisfaction would be moderated by age.

The three hypotheses were tested in a sample of 280 Chinese managerial and executive employees aged between 22 and 66 years. Participants were asked to recall their behavioral responses to an actual conflict incident with other employees.

Results showed that relative to younger employees, older employees utilized more avoiding to deal with conflicts with supervisors and less dominating with subordinates. Such age differences in avoiding and dominating strategies were found to be explained by cooperative and independent goals held by the participants in the conflict incident. In addition, the negative effect of avoiding on interpersonal relations was only shown among younger employees but not among older employees.

This finding suggests that the use of passive strategies is not always harmful to working adults, largely depending on the age of the users.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Age diversity can be an organizational strength, but it can also lead to significant sources of tension and conflict. Organizational identification can be used, with fairness, to combat this.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This study compared different types of full-time caregiver (e.g., children, older adults, COVID-19 patients) and subgroups (e.g., disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation) in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic for potentially meaningful distinctions.

Data from the 9,854 full-time caregivers identified in Phase 3.2 (July 21–October 11, 2021) of the US Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) were analyzed in this study using multinomial logistic regression to examine relationships between caregiver types, marginalized subgroups, generation, and vaccination status.

The prevalence of caregiving was low, but the type of full-time caregiving performed varied by demographic group (i.e., disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, generation, and vaccination status). The relative risk of being a COVID-19 caregiver remained significant for being a member of each of the marginalized groups examined after all adjustments.

To date, the HPS has not been analyzed to predict the type of full-time informal caregiving performed during the COVID-19 pandemic or their characteristics. Research limitations of this analysis include the cross-sectional, experimental dataset employed, as well as some variable measurement issues.

Prior informal caregiver research has often focused on the experiences of those caring for older adults or children with special healthcare needs. It may be instructive to learn whether and how informal caregivers excluded from paid employment during infectious disease outbreaks vary in meaningful ways from those engaged in other full-time caregiving. Because COVID-19 magnified equity concerns, examining demographic differences may also facilitate customization of pathways to post-caregiving workforce integration.