A role perspective on flexible human resource practices and older workers’ early retirement intentions

Although recent studies examined the factors influencing older workers' early retirement decisions, little is known about how age-related shifts in social roles from the work to family domains affect older workers' early retirement intentions. Guided by role theory, we propose that flexible human resource (HR) practices are negatively related to older workers' early retirement intentions via decreased role conflict (work–family and family-work conflict). Furthermore, we take a role identity perspective and argue that gender may work as a fundamental contingency factor influencing the relationship between role conflict (work–family and family-work conflict) and early retirement intentions. Data were collected from Chinese organizations with a matching sample of 228 older workers (aged 45 years and older) and HR managers from 48 organizations, and a multilevel path analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. The results showed that flexible HR practices have a negative indirect relationship with early retirement intentions through decreased family-to-work conflict. The influence of family-to-work conflict on early retirement intentions is stronger for women than for men. We also found that the effect of work-to-family conflict on early retirement intentions is stronger than that of family-to-work conflict. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.