Companies need to more carefully consider older workers as part of their hiring plans, says a new survey by Sirota Survey Intelligence, a market research firm.

Sirota's research reveals that older workers bring a higher level of satisfaction, pride, and willingness to go the "extra mile" to their jobs than younger generations, while simultaneously expressing the strongest satisfaction with the fairness of their compensation.

The findings are from a study of cross-generational attitudes of more than 300,000 workers in over 50 organizations that the employee attitude research firm surveyed during 2007 and 2006.  That study encompassed four generational groups:

"Among all employees, 'Traditionalist' or mature workers feel their skills are being best utilized, and are best able to understand how their job connects to the overall goals of the company.  They are the most satisfied with their jobs, and are among the most likely to advocate for the company," said Douglas Klein, president of Sirota.