Section Two(^) The values of older workers also may be important to
strategic management. When labor short-ages persist, older
workers will have to be persuaded to stay on the job or be
drawn back into the labor force. One critical element to their
return may be job satisfaction. Unfortunately, there is evidence
of continuing bias against older workers in various aspects of
the work relationship.^36 Although there is empirical evidence of
a positive relationship between job satisfaction and age, the
relationship is curvilinear and reflects a decline in job
satisfaction among older workers, as a result of such factors as
lost influence and unmet expectations.^37 Since downsizing
organizations also have targeted older, higher-paid workers for
voluntary early retirement programs as a means of cutting
costs, older workers also may feel unappreciated. In planning
for the environmental challenges of the future, strategic
managers may need to develop approaches to prevent the
decline of job satisfaction of older workers.