Healthy and Entrepreneurial Work Environment for Older Employees and Its Impact on Work Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Managing older employees is a major challenge for companies, especially during COVID-19. Therefore, creating a healthy and entrepreneurial work environment as well as an inclusive culture within organizations is crucial for companies to maintain their sustainable advantage. The main objective of this paper is to develop a multidimensional model of a healthy and entrepreneurial work environment for older employees and determine its impact on their work engagement during COVID-19. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results show that workplace health promotion, entrepreneurial working conditions, and leadership lead to better well-being of older employees. In addition, entrepreneurial working conditions that promote intergenerational synergy lead to higher work engagement of older employees, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the elderly, the entrepreneurial work environment is therefore particularly important, even though entrepreneurship is mostly attributed to younger men. In addition, older employees’ well-being and the promotion of intergenerational synergy have a positive impact on their work engagement. The results will help companies better manage their older employees, shape their workplace, and increase the sustainable benefits of their businesses during and after the COVID-19 crisis.