Understanding workforce sustainability through institutional theory: insights from Uzbekistan's hotel industry

This study explores hotel employees' experiences in Uzbekistan using a phenomenological approach to understand how workplace conditions affect progress toward sustainable tourism guided by the primary research question: "What are the problems encountered in the hotel industry from employees" perspective in Uzbekistan? Through semi-structured interviews with 15 frontline employees, analyzed via an inductive-deductive thematic approach, the research captures employee views on motivation, turnover, skills, and daily challenges. Interpreted through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Institutional Theory, the findings show that sustainability gaps arise from cross-pillar institutional misalignment rather than isolated managerial shortcomings. Weak enforcement of labor rules, industry norms that prioritize cost-minimization, and cultural expectations particularly around gender combine to produce wage inequity, limited career development, outdated training, infrastructure constraints, and neglected health and safety practices. Women additionally face restricted advancement due to unpaid care responsibilities and stigma attached to certain hospitality roles. These institutional pressures result in symbolic compliance with sustainability commitments instead of meaningful change. Ultimately, by highlighting the need for stronger labor enforcement, updated skills systems, improved infrastructure, gender-inclusive policies, and consistent safety practices, this study contributes theoretically by illustrating how macro-level institutional voids materialize in daily operations, and practically by offering practical strategies for policymakers and hoteliers to align institutional pillars and support a more equitable hotel sector in transition economies.