Career Trends: Human Resources Specialists

Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training.

Human resources specialists generally work in offices. Some, particularly recruitment specialists, travel extensively to attend job fairs, visit college campuses, and meet with applicants. Most human resources specialists work full time during regular business hours.

Applicants must usually have a bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, or a related field. However, the level of education and experience required varies by position and employer. 

Employment of human resources specialists is projected to grow 5 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Human resources specialists will be needed to handle increasingly complex employment laws and healthcare coverage options. Most growth is projected to be in the employment services industry.

This occupation supported 418,000 jobs in 2012 and 482,000 jobs in 2014, reflecting an increase of 15.3%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 7.9% in 2022 to 451,100 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 424,600, compared with an observed value of 482,000, 13.5% higher than expected. This indicates current employment trends are much better than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 5.2% in 2024 to 503,900 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 457,700 jobs for 2024, 9.2% lower than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much better than the 2012 trend within this occupation.