Management · Holland code ECS

Human Resources Managers

Plan, direct, or coordinate human resources activities and staff of an organization.

Also called: Employee Relations Manager, HR Director (Human Resources Director), HR Manager (Human Resources Manager), HR VP (Human Resources Vice President), HR Admin Director (Human Resources Administration Director), HR Ops Manager (Human Resources Operations Manager), Recruitment Director.

O*NET 11-3121.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $149,280; Middle half earn $111,110 to $199,290. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 82% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +5% · Faster than average; 221,900 jobs in 2024, projected 233,000. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Human resources managers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Advise managers on organizational policy matters, such as equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment, and recommend needed changes.
Plan and conduct new employee orientation to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives.
Analyze and modify compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure compliance with legal requirements.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.4 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.3 / 5
Speaking4.3 / 5
Writing4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Active Learning4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Personnel and Human Resources4.9 / 5
English Language4.3 / 5
Administration and Management4.2 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
Education and Training3.9 / 5
Law and Government3.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic4
Investigative22
Artistic8
Social48
Enterprising100
Conventional76

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

public employment service manager · DE Leiter der öffentlichen Arbeitsverwaltung/Leiterin der öffentlichen Arbeitsverwaltung · FR directeur d’agence publique pour l’emploi/directrice d’agence publique pour l’emploi
human resources manager · DE Führungskraft im Personalwesen · FR directeur des ressources humaines/directrice des ressources humaines
equality and inclusion manager · DE Beauftragter für Gleichstellung und Inklusion/Beauftragte für Gleichstellung und Inklusion · FR responsable diversité et inclusion
resource manager · DE Ressourcenmanager/Ressourcenmanagerin · FR gestionnaire des ressources matérielles
human resources officer · DE Personalberater/Personalberaterin · FR directeur des ressources humaines/directrice des ressources humaines -DRH-
labour relations officer · DE Beauftragter für Arbeitsbeziehungen/Beauftragte für Arbeitsbeziehungen · FR responsable des relations de travail

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Human resource managers and directors (1136)229,100 employed
Purchasing managers and directors (1134)61,700 employed
Directors in logistics, warehousing and transport (1140)30,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.32. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-3121).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test