Attitudes of Food and Nutrition Majors toward Hiring Older Workers

Lee, Jung Hee; Park, Jung Sook

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of nutrition majors toward hiring older workers who are over fifty-five years of age. Questionnaires were sent to 500 students who are studying food and nutrition in three colleges and three universities located in Seoul and its suburbs. Data from 490 usable responses were analyzed using the SAS package program. The study showed that although the students have a favorable perception about hiring older workers, they prefer to hire younger people under the age of 30 father than older workers(over 55 year old). Additionally, even though both the younger and older people have the same ability, they would still choose to hire younger people. Also, they think that older workers are harder to train, find it more difficult to adapt to new ways of working and are slower in their work. On the positive side, the response did show that students realize that older workers are not absent from work as frequently as younger workers and that they are more cooperative than younger workers are. The data also showed that the students who had a more positive experience with older workers also perceive those workers in a more positive way than the students who did mot have experience with older workers(p<0.0001). Finally, students who have family members who are older workers(p<0.01) and students who are planning to work past fifty-five years of ages show more positive attitudes toward older workers(p<0.01). Moreover male students showed more positive attitudes toward older workers than female students did(p<0.0001).