What is it about?
As teleworking becomes more common after the COVID-19 pandemic, hiring decisions may increasingly depend on visible applicant characteristics such as age and gender. This research investigates whether recruiters evaluate candidates differently depending on whether a job is remote (telework) or office-based, and whether age or gender influence those decisions. Drawing on Stereotype Content Theory, the study examines whether perceptions of applicants’ warmth and competence explain potential biases across work settings.
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Why is it important?
Remote work is often framed as increasing flexibility and equality. However, changes in work structure may unintentionally activate stereotypes about who “fits” certain environments. If recruiters rely on assumptions such as: Older workers are warmer but less competent, Younger workers are more competent but less warm, Certain traits are more important in office vs. remote work, then demographic characteristics could influence hiring decisions, even when qualifications are identical. Understanding whether telework changes how applicants are evaluated is critical for preventing subtle, context-dependent hiring bias in modern organizations.
Perspectives
These findings suggest that: -Organizational shifts toward telework may unintentionally create new forms of age-based bias. -Hiring decisions are influenced not only by competence but also by perceived alignment between demographic traits and contextual demands. -Office roles may be implicitly associated with warmth and interpersonal interaction, traits that are stereotypically attributed to older workers. -Remote roles may implicitly activate competence-based evaluations, but without clear advantages for younger applicants. For organizations, this highlights the need to: -Increase awareness of context-specific bias, -Implement structured and standardized hiring procedures, -Ensure that telework and in-office opportunities are not distributed along stereotype-driven lines.
Kyriaki Fousiani
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Too old to telework? Age but not gender shapes hiring biases across telework and office settings, PLOS One, January 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0340366.
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