Organizational differences in recruiting older department store workers in the US

Department store retailers need a reliable and stable labour resource, particularly for entry-level positions. Older workers may be an alternative labour pool for these positions. The goal of this study is to learn whether department store attributes and recruitment representative characteristics affect the use of formal and informal recruiting strategies in developing an older applicant pool. The findings indicate that small sales volume stores used both formal and informal recruiting practices significantly less than medium or large stores. Further, younger respondents and human resource support staff relied upon informal methods more than formal ones. Finally, highly educated recruiting representatives used formal recruiting methods more than those with less education.