Explaining heterogeneity in innovative IT use among older workers: the roles of IS slack, job crafting, and age-related gains and losses

Older workers tend to engage less in innovative IT use, but they are not the homogenous group portrayed in prior cohort studies. This study examines the heterogeneity in older workers’ innovative IT use that arises from diverse developmental trajectories in the aging process. Drawing on the Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) framework and survey data from older workers, we show that awareness of age-related gains (e.g. gains in accumulated knowledge) and awareness of age-related losses (e.g. losses in cognitive functioning) shape innovative IT use through the mediating role of challenging job crafting. The results also indicate that the awareness of age-related gains exerts a stronger influence than the awareness of age-related losses. By integrating the AARC framework with research on IS slack resources, we further demonstrate that IS slack time and slack technology moderate the indirect effect of awareness of age-related gains and losses on innovative IT use. This study contributes to research on aging at work by demonstrating how age-related self-perceptions and supportive technological work environments jointly shape innovative IT use. Practically, it suggests that organizations should prioritize leveraging older workers’ perceived gains rather than mitigating perceived losses, while also providing sufficient slack resources to foster innovative IT use.