Annual salary rates for human resources workers vary according to occupation, level of experience, training, location, and size of the firm, and whether they are union members. Median annual earnings of human resources managers were $64,710 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $47,420 and $88,100. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $36,280, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $114,300. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of human resources managers in 2002 were:
| Management of companies and enterprises | $77,690 |
| Local government | 65,590 |
| General medical and surgical hospitals | 61,720 |
| Depository credit intermediation | 60,030 |
Median annual earnings of training and development specialists were $42,800 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $32,050 and $56,890. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,760, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,530. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of training and development specialists in 2002 were:
| Management of companies and enterprises | $49,660 |
| Insurance carriers | 45,830 |
| Local government | 43,740 |
| State government | 40,960 |
| Federal Government | 37,560 |
Median annual earnings of employment, recruitment, and placement specialists were $39,410 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $30,390 and $54,130. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,440, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $73,940. Median annual earnings in 2002 were $34,850 in employment services, the industry employing the largest numbers of these specialists.
Median annual earnings of compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists were $45,100 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $35,000 and $57,230. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $28,160, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,250. Median annual earnings in 2002 were $48,870 in local government, the industry employing the largest numbers of these specialists.
According to a 2003 salary survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, bachelor’s degree candidates majoring in human resources, including labor relations, received starting offers averaging $35,400 a year.
The average salary for human resources managers employed by the Federal Government was $66,886 in 2003; for employee relations specialists, $63,345; for labor relations specialists, $72,915; and for employee development specialists, $68,735. Salaries were slightly higher in areas where the prevailing local pay level was higher. There are no formal entry-level requirements for managerial positions. Applicants must possess a suitable combination of educational attainment, experience, and record of accomplishment.
Attracting the most qualified employees and matching them to the jobs for which they are best suited is important for the success of any organization. However, many enterprises are too large to permit close contact between top management and employees. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists provide this link. In the past, these workers have been associated with performing the administrative function of an organization, such as handling employee benefits questions or recruiting, interviewing, and hiring new personnel in accordance with policies and requirements that have been established in conjunction with top management. Today’s human resources workers juggle these tasks and, increasingly, consult top executives regarding strategic planning. They have moved from behind-the-scenes staff work to leading the company in suggesting and changing policies. Senior management is recognizing the importance of the human resources department to their financial success.
In an effort to improve morale and productivity and to limit job turnover, they also help their firms effectively use employee skills, provide training opportunities to enhance those skills, and boost employees’ satisfaction with their jobs and working conditions. Although some jobs in the human resources field require only limited contact with people outside the office, dealing with people is an essential part of the job.
In a small organization, a human resources generalist may handle all aspects of human resources work, and thus require a broad range of knowledge. The responsibilities of human resources generalists can vary widely, depending on their employer’s needs. In a large corporation, the top human resources executive usually develops and coordinates personnel programs and policies. (Executives are included in the Handbook statement on top executives.) These policies usually are implemented by a director or manager of human resources and, in some cases, a director of industrial relations.
The director of human resources may oversee several departments, each headed by an experienced manager who most likely specializes in one personnel activity, such as employment, compensation, benefits, training and development, or employee relations.
Employment and placement managers oversee the hiring and separation of employees and supervise various workers, including equal employment opportunity specialists and recruitment specialists. Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists recruit and place workers.
Recruiters maintain contacts within the community and may travel extensively, often to college campuses, to search for promising job applicants. Recruiters screen, interview, and sometimes test applicants. These workers must be thoroughly familiar with the organization and its personnel policies in order to discuss wages, working conditions, and promotional opportunities with prospective employees. They also must keep informed about equal employment opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.
EEO officers, representatives, or affirmative action coordinators handle EEO matters in large organizations. They investigate and resolve EEO grievances, examine corporate practices for possible violations, and compile and submit EEO statistical reports.
Employer relations representatives, who usually work in government agencies, maintain working relationships with local employers and promote the use of public employment programs and services.
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists conduct programs for employers and may specialize in specific areas such as position classifications or pensions. Job analysts, sometimes called position classifiers, collect and examine detailed information about job duties in order to prepare job descriptions. Whenever a large organization introduces a new job or reviews existing jobs, it calls upon the expert knowledge of the job analyst.
Occupational analysts conduct research, usually in large firms. They are concerned with occupational classification systems and study the effects of industry and occupational trends upon worker relationships. They may serve as technical liaison between the firm and other firms, government, and labor unions.
Establishing and maintaining a firm’s pay system is the principal job of the compensation manager. In addition, compensation managers often oversee their firm’s performance evaluation system, and they may design reward systems such as pay-for-performance plans.
Employee benefits managers and specialists handle the company’s employee benefits program, notably its health insurance and pension plans. Expertise in designing and administering benefits programs continues to take on importance as employer-provided benefits account for a growing proportion of overall compensation costs, and as benefit plans increase in number and complexity. Familiarity with health benefits is a top priority for employee benefits managers and specialists, as more firms struggle to cope with the rising cost of healthcare for employees and retirees. In addition to health insurance and pension coverage, some firms offer employees life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance, disability insurance, and relatively new benefits designed to meet the needs of a changing workforce, such as parental leave, child and elder care, long-term nursing home care insurance, employee assistance and wellness programs, and flexible benefits plans. Benefits managers must keep abreast of changing Federal and State regulations and legislation that may affect employee benefits.
Employee assistance plan managers, also called employee welfare managers, are responsible for a wide array of programs covering occupational safety and health standards and practices; health promotion and physical fitness, medical examinations, and minor health treatment, such as first aid; plant security; publications; food service and recreation activities; carpooling and transportation programs, such as transit subsidies; employee suggestion systems; childcare and elder care; and counseling services. In addition, advances in learning theory have provided insights into how adults learn, and how training can be organized most effectively for them.
Training managers provide worker training either in the classroom or onsite. Trainers respond to corporate and worker service requests. They consult with onsite supervisors regarding available performance improvement services and conduct orientation sessions and arrange on-the-job training for new employees. Training methods include on-the-job training; operating schools that duplicate shop conditions for trainees prior to putting them on the shop floor; apprenticeship training; classroom training; and electronic learning, which may involve interactive Internet-based training, multimedia programs, distance learning, satellite training, other computer-aided instructional technologies, videos, simulators, conferences, and workshops.
An organization’s director of industrial relations forms labor policy, oversees industrial labor relations, negotiates collective bargaining agreements, and coordinates grievance procedures to handle complaints resulting from management disputes with unionized employees. The director of industrial relations also advises and collaborates with the director of human resources, other managers, and members of their staff, because all aspects of personnel policy—such as wages, benefits, pensions, and work practices—may be involved in drawing up a new or revised union contract.
Labor relations managers and their staffs implement industrial labor relations programs. As union membership continues to decline in most industries, industrial relations personnel are working more often with employees who are not members of a labor union.
Dispute resolution—attaining tacit or contractual agreements—has become increasingly important as parties to a dispute attempt to avoid costly litigation, strikes, or other disruptions.
The abundant supply of qualified college graduates and experienced workers should create keen competition for jobs. Overall employment of human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2012. In addition to openings due to growth, many job openings will arise from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.
Legislation and court rulings setting standards in various areas—occupational safety and health, equal employment opportunity, wages, health, pensions, and family leave, among others—will increase demand for human resources, training, and labor relations experts. Rising healthcare costs should continue to spur demand for specialists to develop creative compensation and benefits packages that firms can offer prospective employees. Employment of labor relations staff, including arbitrators and mediators, should grow as firms become more involved in labor relations, and attempt to resolve potentially costly labor-management disputes out of court. Additional job growth may stem from increasing demand for specialists in international human resources management and human resources information systems.
Demand may be particularly strong for certain specialists. For example, employers are expected to devote greater resources to job-specific training programs in response to the increasing complexity of many jobs, the aging of the workforce, and technological advances that can leave employees with obsolete skills. This should result in particularly strong demand for training and development specialists. In addition, increasing efforts throughout industry to recruit and retain quality employees should create many jobs for employment, recruitment, and placement specialists.
Among industries, firms involved in management, consulting, and employment services should offer many job opportunities, as businesses increasingly contract out personnel functions or hire personnel specialists on a temporary basis in order to deal with the increasing cost and complexity of training and development programs. Demand also should increase in firms that develop and administer complex employee benefits and compensation packages for other organizations.
Demand for human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists also are governed by the staffing needs of the firms for which they work. A rapidly expanding business is likely to hire additional human resources workers—either as permanent employees or consultants—while a business that has experienced a merger or a reduction in its workforce will require fewer human resources workers. Also, as human resources management becomes increasingly important to the success of an organization, some small and medium-size businesses that do not have a human resources department may assign employees various human resources duties together with other unrelated responsibilities. In any particular firm, the size and the job duties of the human resources staff are determined by the firm’s organizational philosophy and goals, skills of its workforce, pace of technological change, government regulations, collective bargaining agreements, standards of professional practice, and labor market conditions.
Job growth could be limited by the widespread use of computerized human resources information systems that make workers more productive. Like that of other workers, employment of human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists, particularly in larger firms, may be adversely affected by corporate downsizing, restructuring, and mergers.
.Because of the diversity of duties and levels of responsibility, the educational backgrounds of human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists vary considerably. In filling entry-level jobs, many employers seek college graduates who have majored in human resources, personnel administration, or industrial and labor relations. Other employers look for college graduates with a technical or business background or a well-rounded liberal arts education.
Many colleges and universities have programs leading to a degree in personnel, human resources, or labor relations. Some offer degree programs in personnel administration or human resources management, training and development, or compensation and benefits. Depending on the school, courses leading to a career in human resources management may be found in departments of business administration, education, instructional technology, organizational development, human services, communication, or public administration, or within a separate human resources institution or department.
Because an interdisciplinary background is appropriate in this field, a combination of courses in the social sciences, business, and behavioral sciences is useful. Some jobs may require a more technical or specialized background in engineering, science, finance, or law, for example. Most prospective human resources specialists should take courses in compensation, recruitment, training and development, and performance appraisal, as well as courses in principles of management, organizational structure, and industrial psychology. Other relevant courses include business administration, public administration, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and statistics. Courses in labor law, collective bargaining, labor economics, labor history, and industrial psychology also provide a valuable background for the prospective labor relations specialist. As in many other fields, knowledge of computers and information systems also is useful.
An advanced degree is increasingly important for some jobs. Many labor relations jobs require graduate study in industrial or labor relations. A strong background in industrial relations and law is highly desirable for contract negotiators, mediators, and arbitrators; in fact, many people in these specialties are lawyers. A background in law also is desirable for employee benefits managers and others who must interpret the growing number of laws and regulations. A master’s degree in human resources, labor relations, or in business administration with a concentration in human resources management is highly recommended for those seeking general and top management positions.
For many specialized jobs in the human resources field, previous experience is an asset; for more advanced positions, including those of managers as well as arbitrators and mediators, it is essential. Many employers prefer entry-level workers who have gained some experience through an internship or work-study program while in school. Personnel administration and human resources development require the ability to work with individuals as well as a commitment to organizational goals. This field also demands other skills that people may develop elsewhere—using computers, selling, teaching, supervising, and volunteering, among others. The field offers clerical workers opportunities for advancement to professional positions. Entry-level employees commonly learn the profession by performing administrative duties—helping to enter data into computer systems, compiling employee Handbooks, researching information for a supervisor, or answering the phone and handling routine questions. Entry-level workers often enter formal or on-the-job training programs in which they learn how to classify jobs, interview applicants, or administer employee benefits. Later, they may advance to a managerial position, overseeing a major element of the personnel program—compensation or training, for example.
Exceptional human resources workers may be promoted to director of personnel or industrial relations, which can eventually lead to a top managerial or executive position. Others may join a consulting firm or open their own business. is an asset for teaching, writing, or consulting work.
Most organizations specializing in human resources offer classes intended to enhance the marketable skills of their members. Some organizations offer certification programs, which are signs of competence and can enhance one’s advancement opportunities. For example, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans confers a designation to persons who complete a series of college-level courses and pass exams covering employee benefit plans.
All human resources occupations are closely related. Other workers with skills and expertise in interpersonal relations include counselors, education administrators, public relations specialists, lawyers, psychologists, social and human service assistants, and social workers.
For information about human resource management careers and certification, contact:
For information about careers in employee training and development and certification, contact:
For information about careers and certification in employee compensation and benefits, contact:
For information about academic programs in industrial relations, write to:
Information about personnel careers in the healthcare industry is available from:
This site carries good information for benefits managers and job listings. It is a free site, but registration is required for access to the jobs database. Corporate Recruiting Jobs from CareerXroads Colloquium Members The recruiting experts at CareerXroads are now hosting a site for companies to recruit HR and Recruiting professionals. Job seekers at all levels in HR can search their current list of permanent and contract openings and submit a resume for consideration. Permission to reproduce and/or distribute print copies of these pages is hereby granted for non-profit purposes only, except where noted.
Summary of: http://www.rileyguide.com/hr.html
Previous experience will benefit those who desire a specialized position; however, it is critical for more advanced positions including managers, arbitrators, and mediators. Human Resource Career Overview and Job Description For success in any industry, companies must appeal to and match employees to jobs for which they are best cut out for. Nevertheless, several organizations are too big for direct interaction between top management and workers. This is therefore provided by human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists. Eighty percent of salaried jobs represented private sectors with professional, scientific, and technical services accounting for 11 percent.
Summary of: http://www.careeroverview.com/human-resource-careers.html
Depending on the particular job, a strong background in human resources, business, technical, or liberal arts subjects may be preferred. However, many enterprises are too large to permit close contact between top management and employees. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists provide this link. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists conduct programs for employers and may specialize in specific areas such as position classifications or pensions. The private sector accounted for about 90 percent of salaried jobs.
Summary of: http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20022003/ocos021.htm
For many specialized jobs, previous experience is an asset; for more advanced positions, including those of managers, arbitrators, and mediators, it is essential. However, many enterprises are too large to permit close contact between top management and employees. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists provide this link. In a large corporation, the top human resources executive usually develops and coordinates personnel programs and policies. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists conduct programs for employers and may specialize in specific areas such as position classifications or pensions.
Summary of: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos021.htm
Depending on the job duties, a strong background in human resources, business, technical, or liberal arts subjects may be preferred. The job market is likely to remain competitive because of the abundant supply of qualified college graduates and experienced workers. However, many enterprises are too large to permit close contact between top management and employees. Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists and managers provide this link. Although some jobs in the human resources field require only limited contact with people outside the office, dealing with people is an essential part of the job.
Summary of: http://www.jobbankusa.com/ohb/ohb021.html
The seminars are held in railway training centres so that the facilities can be viewed and used and also so that the technical equipment used in technical training can be seen.
Summary of: http://www.uic.asso.fr/formation/article.php3?id_article=12
However, many enterprises are too large to permit close contact between top management and employees. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists provide this link. Senior management is recognizing the importance of the human resources department to their bottom line. In a large corporation, the top human resources executive usually develops and coordinates personnel programs and policies. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists conduct programs for employers and may specialize in specific areas such as position classifications or pensions.
Summary of: http://humanresources.about.com/od/hrbasicsfaq/l/bl_faq_job_desc.htm
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), by the year 2005 service providing industries will account for almost 80 percent of our nation's jobs. To provide these services, industries rely upon their employees as a valuable resource. This increased need for capable and productive employees has affected the field of personnel, now more commonly referred to as human resources. In larger companies, the Human Resources Directors oversee multiple departments that are equipped with a manager and staff specialists or representatives who head one particular activity. These managers direct the staffing specialists and company matchmakers who are responsible for attracting qualified employees and matching them to jobs within the organization.
Summary of: http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/HRSMGR.HTM
Depending on the particular job, a strong background in human resources, business, technical, or liberal arts subjects may be preferred. Keen competition for jobs is expected due to the abundant supply of qualified college graduates and experienced workers. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists provide this link. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists conduct programs for employers and may specialize in specific areas such as position classifications or pensions. The private sector accounted for about 90 percent of salaried jobs.
Summary of: http://www.collegegrad.com/careers/manag18.shtml
Depending on the job duties, a strong background in human resources, business, technical, or liberal arts subjects may be preferred. The job market is likely to remain competitive because of the abundant supply of qualified college graduates and experienced workers. However, many enterprises are too large to permit close contact between top management and employees. Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists and managers provide this link. Although some jobs in the human resources field require only limited contact with people outside the office, dealing with people is an essential part of the job.
Summary of: http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20002001/75.htm