Received: 11 October 2019 - Revised: 24 September 2020 - Accepted: 10 October 2020 DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12323 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Bridge employment: Understanding the expectations and experiences of bridge employees Bishakha Mazumdar 1 | Amy M. Warren 2 | Travor C. Brown 2 1 Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University, Sydney, Canada 2 Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada Correspondence Bishakha Mazumdar, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Rd, Sydney, NS B1P4k7, Canada. Email: bishakha_mazumdar@cbu.ca Abstract While there is a growing tendency among present day re- tirees to engage in bridge jobs before their final exit from the labour force, limited academic attention is directed towards understanding the expectations and experiences of bridge employees. To address this gap in the literature, we con- ducted 26 semi‐structured interviews with bridge em- ployees. After collecting and analysing the data, we found the lens of socio‐emotional selectivity theory helpful in better understanding the experiences and expectations of bridge employees. Bridge employees generally expressed preference for intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards. In addition, bridge employees tended to favour part‐time work. However, even though bridge employees were satisfied with their work, benefits, and social interactions, some of them faced social disapproval for re‐entering workforce. To our knowledge, this paper is among the first exploratory quali- tative studies in the human resource management field to investigate the expectations and experiences of bridge employees. KEYWORDS ageing workforce, bridge employment expectation, bridge employment experience, grounded theory, socio‐emotional selectivity theory Hum Resour Manag J. 2020;1–17. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. - 1