Career resilience of the tourism and hospitality workforce in the COVID-19: The protection motivation theory perspective

By applying the protection motivation theory, the study aims to investigate factors influencing tourism and hospitality (T&H) workers' career resilience when faced with health-related risks at work during a pandemic. Data were collected from 495 part-time and full-time employees in the Vietnamese tourism and hospitality sector. The study found that workers' perceived vulnerability and perceived severity of the pandemic were positively associated with career resilience. Perceived severity was positively related to self-efficacy and response efficacy, while perceived vulnerability was positively associated with self-efficacy only. Both self-efficacy and response efficacy positively influenced career resilience through the mediating role of health risk preventative behavior. Theoretically, the study advances the stream of research in resilience in general and career resilience in particular among T&H workers when faced with a health-related crisis. Practical implications are provided with recommendations on how to facilitate career resilience among T&H employees working in the current high-risk environment. •Career resilience in the field of tourism and hospitality has remained scarce.•A model of career resilience is developed by adapting the protection motivation theory.•Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling was employed to test the proposed model.•Career resilience is influenced by threat appraisal, coping appraisal health risk preventative behaviors.