Rise up: Career empowerment, adaptability and resilience during a pandemic

Abstract

The present article examines employee resilience during the COVID‐19 pandemic, which created a major career disruption and a psychological strain for many individuals worldwide. Resilience is an essential psychological resource for coping with setbacks and maintaining mental health. Using a time‐lagged survey design, we test a theoretical model that links career empowerment, a motivational cognitive construct, with resilience, mediated by career adaptability. Our findings support these hypotheses. In addition, we investigate the moderating role of neuroticism and authentic leadership in the relationship between the career empowerment and career adaptability. Findings show that while authentic leadership moderates this relationship, the hypothesis regarding neuroticism was not supported. Our research provides insights regarding resilience during crisis, which has both theoretical and practical implications.