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CHAPTER 4
Individual and organisational predictors influencing ageing workersʼ employability 73

development is still important for low and higher educated mature workers as
abilities are not fixed and can be altered; schooling produces ability while
ability creates a demand for schooling (Heckman, 2000).
The study of Collins et al. (2009) is relevant when bearing in mind
employeesʼ individual social exchange relationship with their supervisor
(LMX), and the ageing workforce. They found that older workers expect less
from their younger supervisors than younger workers. Older employees with
younger supervisors will probably show more severe participation deficits in
training and development activities than their peers with same-aged
supervisors. Since participation in these activities can be regarded as a
necessary means to improve employability, it can be expected that older
employees with younger supervisors will have the most serious shortcomings
in employability (Sopranos, 1999).

4.5. Two studies on factors affecting ageing
workersʼ employability

Based on the above theory, Breukers (2010) and Wittpoth (2011), master
students at the University of Twente (NL), recently carried out two studies to
identify factors that could affect ageing workersʼ employability. Both students
selected a large industrial company in the Netherlands facing an ageing
workforce. The average age in Breukersʼ study was 47.2 years, and 40 years
in the Wittpoth study. Breukers collected data by means of a paper and pencil
questionnaire among a stratified random sample of 298 employees and
obtained a 76% response rate. Wittpoth gathered data using a paper and
pencil questionnaire among 332 employees and achieved a response rate of
nearly 40%.
Breukers focused on predictors that affect employability with emphasis on
personal factors, motivation and ability to learn, and organisational factors,
namely learning climate, job rotation, and supervisor support. She
hypothesised that both individual factors are positively related to employability,
with age having a negative moderating effect on the relationship between
motivation and ability to learn, on the one hand, and employability, on the
other. She also hypothesised that discerned organisational factors are
positively related to employability. Regarding age, she expected a positive
moderating effect on the relationship between job rotation and learning
climate, and all five dimensions of employability, but a negative moderating
effect in case supervisor support was the predictor variable.