Career
Human resources managers
Lead the people side of an organization: hiring, policy and culture.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Serve as a link between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering contracts and helping resolve work-related problems.
- Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations.
- Perform difficult staffing duties, including dealing with understaffing, refereeing disputes, firing employees, and administering disciplinary procedures.
- Represent organization at personnel-related hearings and investigations.
- Negotiate bargaining agreements and help interpret labor contracts.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Serve as a link between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering contracts and helping resolve work-related problems.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Management of Personnel Resources.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $149,280 a year and 16,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Business AdministrationSee the degree →
- Public Relations and AdvertisingSee the degree →
- Human ResourcesSee the degree →
- Organizational Communication, GeneralCIP 09.0901
- Industrial and Organizational PsychologyCIP 42.2804
- Business Administration and Management, GeneralCIP 52.0201
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Human Resources Specialists$75,940 · +6.4%
- Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping$50,610 · -6.2%
- Management Analysts$101,860 · +10.1%
- Industrial-Organizational Psychologists$193,950 · +6.5%
- Labor Relations Specialists$95,420 · +2.1%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.