Depleted and disposable? Burnout among migrant hotel workers

This study investigates burnout among migrant hotel workers, focusing on how organisational practices, workplace experiences, and structural conditions intersect to generate chronic emotional and physical strain. Drawing on 17 in-depth interviews, the research integrates structural vulnerability, emotional labour, and person–environment fit theories as sensitising lenses. The findings reveal that burnout among migrant hotel workers is not only an individual stress response, but also a socially and organisationally embedded experience shaped by employment insecurity, financial pressure, cultural expectations, emotional service demands, and limited organisational support. By reframing burnout as a multi-layered, context-specific phenomenon rather than an individual psychological deficit, the study contributes to theoretical understanding of burnout in migrant-dependent service industries. It also offers practical implications, calling for culturally responsive organisational practices, clearer reporting pathways, safer work design, and more consistent managerial support to meet duty of care obligations and reduce burnout risks faced by migrant workers in hospitality.