Purpose: The present research aims to investigate the impact of "COVID-19 phobia" factors (psychological, social, economic and psychosomatic) on career anxiety and perceived distress. Further, this research assesses whether career anxiety and perceived distress foster or diminish students' employability confidence. Design/methodology/approach: "Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)" has been used to analyze the data. Findings: The results depict that factors (psychological, economic and psychosomatic) are positively and significantly associated with career anxiety and perceived distress. However, social factors indicate an adverse impact on perceived distress. Further, career anxiety and perceived distress positively influence employability confidence, but the associations are not highly impactful. Originality/value: This research elucidates an unexplored phenomenon in the context of a developing country that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) phobia scale (i.e. psychological, social, economic and psychosomatic) result in career anxiety and distress. Moreover, no studies highlighted the direct impact of career anxiety and perceived distress on employability confidence.