This paper investigates the effects of applicant/employee characteristics, business characteristics and perceptions of employers on hiring & firing chances, mainly focussing on age effects. We...Show moreThis paper investigates the effects of applicant/employee characteristics, business characteristics and perceptions of employers on hiring & firing chances, mainly focussing on age effects. We arrive at employers’ hiring and firing decisions by using a survey based on vignettes, calculating the effects by performing multiple (sub-)regressions. We find that age has a negative effect on hiring chances and a positive effect on firing chances, although the age effects in firing are smaller in comparison to hiring. Still, a 30 year old employee has 39% less chance of getting fired in comparison to a 60 year old employee. This age effect could be neutralized by the 30 year old having 10.000 extra annual wage costs. Most certainly, younger workers have a head start on the labor market in comparison to older cohorts. By positively stimulating employers’ perceptions of old employees, this inferior position of older people on the labor market might be significantly minimalized.Show less
