Hospitality industry has recently used esthetic labor on front-line employees to provide customers withthe experience of quality service. The front-line employees must strive to meet various esthetic require-ments and improve their personal esthetic skills, which might create stress for employees and makethem feel burdened. Previous studies have not elucidated the burden of esthetic labor and its influencefrom the employee’s perspective. Hence, the purpose of this study is to uncover the sources of burdenof esthetic labor on front-line employees in the hospitality industry. Through in-depth interview andcontent analysis, this study extracted the burden of esthetic labor into three dimensions: organizationalesthetic requirements and training, customer service pressures, and burdens in time off work. Managerialimplications and future research directions are also discussed