Purpose - This study aims to examine the connection between Fear of Pandemic Crises, Sector Commitment (SC), and Turnover intention (TI) in 5-star hotels in Nigeria and to examine the mediating effect of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the relationship between employee perceptions of pandemic crisis fear and behavioural outcomes.

Design/Methodology/approach - Data were collected from 150 employees from various five-star hotels. The relationships were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping (5,000 subsamples, two-tailed tests).

Findings - The study results indicate that CSR mediates the relationship between employee fear of pandemic crises and SC. Furthermore, our study and analysis demonstrated no relationship between CSR and TI and no mediating relationship.

Originality/ value - The study shows CSR partially mediates pandemic-induced fear’s negative impact on sector commitment but not on turnover intention. CSR restores employees’ sense of belonging to the hospitality sector and reinforces sector commitment, buffering attitudinal resilience but not behavioral withdrawal under high fear. This differentiation advances theory on CSR’s contingent role in employee resilience, indicating stronger effects on attitudinal (commitment) than behavioral (turnover) outcomes. It contributes to social identity and stakeholder perspectives by revealing CSR as a selective buffer in high-vulnerability service sectors.