Overqualified Employees: Perspectives of Older Workers

Abstract

In their focal article, Erdogan, Bauer, Peiro, and Truxillo (2011) briefly note that overqualified older workers, in particular, are more likely to be a benefit rather than a liability to the organization. We expand on this idea, focusing on three dynamics that can explain why older workers find benefits in being overqualified: developmental changes that occur over the life span, higher levels of job and organization embeddedness experienced by older workers, and bridge employment.