Seniors Face Bias on the Job : Trends: Older workers are careful and flexible, according to research. But their co-workers seem to view them as just the opposite.

A satisfied “McGranny” plays a featured role in McDonald’s new advertising campaign, but some researchers say her sweet smile masks biases that many older workers still face in the food industry.

Despite the graying of the population and the increased use of older workers, many service industry managers refuse to shake unfounded biases toward them, according to research done at Florida State and Penn State universities.

“They know some of the positive factors about older workers, but yet they still decide against them,” said Ray Kavanaugh, director of technology for the American Hotel and Motel Assn. in Lansing, Mich.

Managers in the hotel and restaurant business often assume that older workers are clumsy, set in their ways and ill-prepared for promotion, said Kavanaugh, formerly with Florida State.

“Actually, it’s the opposite,” said Fred DeMicco, an assistant professor in Penn State’s school of hotel, restaurant and institutional management.

McDonald’s, founded in 1955 by then-52-year-old Ray Kroc, seems to lead the way in hiring older workers, according to a labor economist with the American Assn. for Retired Persons.

The 8,600-restaurant chain employs 5,000 to 6,000 people over 50 nationwide, the company said, and its television commercials tout its investment in the elderly. In recent commercials, which seem like mini-movies complete with acting credits at the end, at least one features a “McGranny.”

But the advertising campaign may have sent a message validating the low pay and few responsibilities given to most fast-food restaurant employees, said the AARP’s Judy Hushbeck.

“There are a lot of people who enjoy meeting the people and work just for the social aspect of it,” she said. “But take someone who has been reasonably well paid (at previous jobs) and have them do . . . the work teen-agers are doing for minimum wage.”

At its suburban Chicago headquarters, McDonald’s runs a “McMasters” program to train older workers for all jobs, including management positions.

Although “most 65-year-olds are not going to be on the fast track,” Hushbeck said, older workers who want to advance face prejudices.

“Studies going back to the 1950s show bias toward older workers,” DeMicco said. “One of the (recent) studies found more bias on the part of managers than non-management. I find that very, very disturbing.”

His work did not involve McDonald’s in particular, but the researchers said there were potential problems throughout the food and hotel industry.

Older workers are considered more reliable, safer and easier to train, DeMicco said. The Penn State-Florida State study of juniors in the schools’ hospitality departments found, however, that most students would choose younger workers for promotions.

“We were comparing attitudes to known facts about older workers, and we were still getting these responses,” Kavanaugh said.

The researchers found that of 200 people polled originally, 48% said they believe that older people cooperate more than younger employees and 35% agreed that older employees do better work.

Still, only 23% said they would promote the older worker if a younger worker up for the same job produced work of the same quality.

Also, 9% said they believe that younger people have bigger accidents than older workers. Generally, an older worker is safer because of experience in the workplace, DeMicco said.

In DeMicco’s follow-up studies, biases went down as a manager’s age went up.

The original research was done in 1988. DeMicco updated the survey with 1989 and 1990 surveys.

Paul Rittenhouse, the operator of four McDonald’s restaurants around State College, Pa., said he finds his older workers setting examples for younger ones.

“They’re some of my better workers,” Rittenhouse said.