As the nature of work is rapidly changing, organizations in developed nations all over the world are experiencing shifts in the age composition of their workforces. These changes, which include an aging workforce that is becoming increasingly age-diverse, indicate that organizational researchers and practitioners need to be better aware of how age differences manifest themselves in the workplace and what implications this has for effective employee management. In the current study it is proposed that employees of different ages react differently to various elements of a formal performance feedback event. Specifically, Carstensen's developmental Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory is used as a theoretical backing for explaining how and why employees of different ages perceive and react to performance feedback differently based on their perceptions of the valence, content quality, and delivery quality of the feedback. The results show evidence of age differences in feedback reactions, with younger adults being particularly concerned with information that will benefit them in the future and older adults being particularly concerned with information that conveys a positive relationship with one's supervisor. These findings have both conceptual and practical implications as we seek to build workplace aging theory and find ways to better manage and retain valuable employees of all ages in a changing world of work.

As a result of changing demographic trends in today's workforce, employees of all ages can now be found in all career stages. Consequently, the pairing of a younger supervisor with a relatively older employee is becoming increasingly more common. Research in the United States has shown that such demographically "non-normative" pairings have negative implications for employee attitudes and behaviors, and thus for employee performance management. However, little is known about the effects of such pairings in other nations and cultures, despite the fact that these demographic shifts are occurring on a global level. As such, this study examined the effects of these pairings on employee reactions to formal performance feedback episodes in a large organization in China, due to the nation's similarly shifting demographic trends and its economic power in today's global economy. A series of path analyses showed that being paired with a relatively younger supervisor did predict reduced employee feedback satisfaction and perceptions of feedback utility; but, contrary to the proposed model, these effects did not occur because of reduced interactional justice perceptions or reduced perceptions of leader-member exchange (LMX). Further, LMX did not moderate the study outcomes, demonstrating that having a better relationship with one's supervisor did not alleviate the effects of supervisor relative age on employee feedback reactions. The conceptual and practical implications of these results are discussed in light of a rapidly changing workforce, and of cultural differences, in China.