Attitudes on hiring Middle-Aged Employees: The Impact of Social Climate and Rater’s Employability

As global workforce ages, organizations face unprecedented challenges, especially managing effective communication between generations. The phenomenon of middle ageism (i.e., discriminating against middle aged employees based on their age) has become more prevalent. We examined how contextual settings and communication affect attitudes toward middle-aged employees and hiring intentions. Results showed that attitudes toward middle-aged employees mediated the relationship between social climate (of shared codes and language) and hiring intentions. However, social climate was related positively to attitudes toward their adaptability, but negatively to attitudes toward their ability. Also, decision-makers' own perceived employability moderated the relationship between attitudes toward employees' adaptability and hiring intentions, and the indirect relationship between social climate and hiring intentions. In an era where diversity and inclusion dominate human resource management decision making, this study contributes to the literature on the underexplored domain of age diversity.