Age diversity and employee benefits

: a study on preferences, age-related needs and work attitudes

Abstract

As the global workforce ages, retaining older employees is crucial to a company's success. The current study examines how employee benefits can be used as a strategic tool to retain and satisfy employees of different ages. The current research examines the relationships between employee benefit satisfaction, job satisfaction, and affective commitment, highlighting the role of benefit satisfaction in fostering positive work-related attitudes across different age groups and fulfilling growth and security needs. The study employs a quantitative approach with a sample of N=159 participants and includes two analyses: a moderated mediation analysis and a correlational analysis. The moderated mediation analysis explores how age moderates the relationship between benefit satisfaction and workrelated attitudes, with growth and security need satisfaction serving as mediators. The correlational analysis assesses age-related preferences for specific employee benefits. The results show significant direct relationships between employee benefit satisfaction and affective commitment and job satisfaction. In addition, benefit satisfaction shows a significant relation with the satisfaction of growth and security needs, which in turn mediates their effects on job satisfaction and affective commitment. However, the age variable does not moderate these relationships, which was initially expected. Correlations between age and certain preferences for employee benefits can be found, the correlation coefficient for all significant relations is negative but indicates only small to medium effects. In summary, the present study highlights the strategic importance of benefits satisfaction in influencing workrelated attitudes and the fulfillment of personal needs and provides valuable insights for companies offering certain employee benefits to their employees. Given the limited research available, this study shows the potential for more detailed investigation, particularly with regard to the age factor.

Date of Award	6 Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Tatiana Iolanda Pires Marques (Supervisor)