Age management in Slovenian enterprises: the viewpoint of older employees

The main aim of this research is to highlight age management within Slovenian enterprises from the viewpoint of older employees by finding out what influences older employees to decide “should I stay or should I go”. The empirical research methodology is based on mixed strategy of approaching organizations (employees), which means that the quantitative (factor analysis, cluster analysis, correlation, regression, descriptive statistics and frequency distributions) and qualitative parts (in-depth interviews analysis) of research were conducted simultaneously. The results of the research indicate that there are in fact two groups of older employees, which can be referred to as “susceptible” and “insusceptible” in terms of how the employer can affect their decisions. “The unsusceptible” have already decided to retire as soon as possible and they cannot be influenced by any employer measure. On the other hand, “the susceptible” employees are sensitive to employers’ measures aimed at prolonging their working lives. Besides, a regression analysis confirmed a statistically significant correlation between the inclination towards extending one’s employment period and the susceptibility to the employer measures. It can thus be concluded that, through age management measures, an employer has an impact on an extended employment period of older employees. However, employers should be interested primarily in those employees who are inclined towards extending their working lives.