Age-inclusive HR practices and the thriving of older workers: the mediating role of occupational future time perspective

Purpose Drawing on social exchange theory and socio-emotional selectivity theory, this paper examines the role of occupational future time perspective (OFTP) in the relationship between age-inclusive HR practices (AIHRP) and the thriving of older workers. Design/methodology/approach A two-wave cross-sectional design was adopted with bootstrapped parallel multiple mediation analyses. In addition, polynomial regression with response surface analysis was used to examine the extent to which combinations of focus on opportunities and remaining time relate to thriving at work. Data were collected from 310 older workers working in 13 companies located in Portugal. Findings AIHRP have direct effects on OFTP dimensions (i.e. focus on opportunities and remaining time), and indirect effects on the two thriving dimensions (i.e. learning and vitality) via focus on opportunities. The positive relationship between AIHRP and learning was mediated by remaining time, while no significant mediating effect on vitality through remaining time was found. Additionally, surface analysis showed that overall thriving and learning increase more sharply when focus on opportunities is higher than remaining time, rather than vice versa. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of personal resources like OFTP in the relationship between AIHRP and the thriving of older workers. It also provides further support for the distinctiveness of the two OFTP dimensions as remaining time was not linked to vitality, whereas focus on opportunities was linked to both thriving dimensions.