PurposeThis study intends to examine the impact of a fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on workers' career optimism via perceived job insecurity among non-managerial working restaurant employees.Design/methodology/approachTime-lagged quantitative data were collected in two waves from 316 non-managerial on-job restaurant employees. Structural equation modeling technique was applied to examine the measurement and structural model.FindingsThe study showed that workers' fear of COVID-19 positively impacts their job insecurity. Further, the study found that increasing level of job insecurity depletes workers' career optimism—an outlook of their future career prospects.Research limitations/implicationsThe study suggests organizations should work to make employees feel secure in terms of their job continuity and career progression. Eventually, this would support employees in shielding themselves against possible resource loss (e.g. career optimism) due to pandemic crises.Originality/valueExtant literature has tested the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees' workplace attitudes and behaviors such as job satisfaction (e.g. Bajrami et al., 2021) and safety performance (e.g. Kim et al., 2021). However, little has been researched on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees' future career outlook, particularly of non-essential workers in the hospitality industry. To the best of the author's knowledge, an explicit examination of the impact of COVID-19 fear on career optimism has not been conducted previously. Hence, this study will not only be a valuable contribution in the literature of career management, but will also yield important practical implications.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between career adaptability and career resilience. Alongside, the mediating role of career-management fit was also tested on the relationship between career adaptability and career resilience.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional data were collected from the employees of higher-education institutes via an online survey questionnaire. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique using the SmartPLS application was employed for the data analyses.FindingsResults showed that career-management fit positively mediates the relationship between career adaptability and career resilience. Further, a direct positive relationship between career adaptability and career resilience was also substantiated.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretical implications, managerial implications, study limitations and future research directions are also discussed.Originality/valueThe authors put forward the field by probing the developmental strategy for career resilience. This is because, in academics, career-resilient individuals can better contribute towards academic growth and can also maintain a good life balance (Mishra and McDonald, 2017). Hence, this study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first to investigate the career-management fit as a pathway bridging career adaptability and career resilience.