Combating the COVID-19 disruption: Gauging job loss grief and psychological well-being of hospitality employees

Abstract

Abstract The study focuses on gauging the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being of hospitality employees. The complicated job loss grief caused by the involuntary job loss among hospitality employees due to this pandemic has been studied. The causal relationship between anxiety & depression emerging due to complicated job loss grief has been established, further affecting psychological well-being. The structural equation modeling approach empirically defines and validates constructs and studies the causal relationships between them. The results demonstrate a causal relationship between complicated job loss grief and anxiety & depression and highlight that complicated job loss grief symptoms are more inclined toward anxiety symptoms. The results also establish a negative correlation between anxiety & depression and psychological well-being. Further, the study identifies the critical enablers of recovery—hospitality employers and the individual and recommends roles for each enabler to help the affected employees cope with the situation and emerge from the crisis. The study also proposes future directions of theoretical and practical research considerations.