Age separation and voluntary turnover : asymmetric effects for collective turnover rates and individual turnover intentions depending on age

Abstract

The aging population implies a wider age range within a workforce, increasing the risk of age diversity as separation (the clustering into age-based subgroups), which is considered a turnover stimulator. We provide a new theoretical perspective to age diversity and turnover research, arguing that age separation may not only increase turnover through perceived age discrimination (i.e., a self-categorization perspective), but can also reduce it through increased perceived belongingness (i.e., a social identity perspective). Following the idea of asymmetric diversity effects, we propose the workforce's average age as a crucial moderator. A longitudinal sample of 2,393 Belgian organizations (2012-2015) reveals that firm-level age separation stimulates firm-level collective voluntary turnover, but only in firms with an older average age (Study 1). Data from a representative sample of 4,764 employees from six European countries are consistent with the idea that perceived age separation stimulates aging workers’ turnover intention through increased perceived discrimination and reduced belongingness, and reduces younger workers’ turnover intention through increased belongingness (Study 2). These findings support that age diversity conceptualized as separation is not as unmistakably detrimental for turnover as previously assumed and affects younger and older employees and workforces differently. From a practical perspective, understanding the role of age in the age separation–turnover relationship may help organizations to prevent the loss of valuable knowledge through the departure of both older and younger employees.