Extending working lives: how age-inclusive HR practices shape the older workers’ willingness to delay retirement

Purpose Drawing on the social information processing theory, this study aims to investigate the effect of age-inclusive HR practices (AIHRP) on older workers’ willingness to delay retirement and explore how and when this effect occurs. Design/methodology/approach Three waves of survey data are collected from 272 older workers in China. PROCESS MACRO and Bootstrapping were used to test theoretical hypotheses. Findings Results show that AIHRP positively affects older workers’ willingness to delay retirement both directly and indirectly through perceived internal marketability. Essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging (EBCA) negatively moderate these effects, with the indirect effect being weaker for employees with higher EBCA. Research limitations/implications First, the authors take the lead in linking AIHRP and older employees’ willingness to delay retirement. This provides a new explanation of AIHRP’s impact and broadens the AIHRP’s outcome. Second, by exploring the mediating role of perceived internal marketability, the authors not only provide new insights on the mechanisms of increasing delay retirement willingness but also reveal the “black box” between the AIHRP and willingness to delay retirement. Third, the moderating role of EBCA broadens the AIHRP’s boundary conditions and enriches the EBCA literature. All variables were measured through self-reports, which is the limitation of this study. Practical implications The findings have several practical implications. First, the leadership personnel throughout the firm should be conscious of the crucial role of AIHRP. Second, organizations should also value the contributions of older employees and create a working environment where they contribute their own value, which will help them feel their added value to the organization at work and increase older workers’ willingness to delay retirement. Third, organizations can alter older employees’ EBCA through proactive education, instilling the belief that both individuals and the external environment can intervene in the cognitive resource loss during the aging process through collective efforts. Social implications The findings have some social implications. First, the results of this study effectively answer the question of how organizations can improve older employees’ willingness to delay retirement and make delayed retirement policies more effective. Second, this study provides theoretical guidance for organizations and society to manage older workers by proving the role of AIHRP, which is conducive to alleviating social problems such as youth labor shortage and increased burden of retirement. Third, the authors can contribute to dispelling pervious incorrect stereotypes that providing older workers with training opportunities and equal resources brings little benefit. Originality/value Although government and organizations are increasingly concerned about how to improve older workers’ willingness to delay retirement, little is known about it. Unlike the future time or social-exchange perspective predominantly used in previous studies on AIHRP, this study takes the lead in exploring the effect and mechanisms of AIHRP on older workers’ willingness to delay retirement based on the social information processing perspective. The findings not only deepen the understanding of perceived internal marketability and EBCA but also contribute significantly to the broader literature on the connection of AIHRP and career choice.