Human Resources professionals have always longed for the day when the world might wake up and realize how important they are to the success of an organization.
That day may be here!
It appears that for the past five years that “HR specialist” has been the nation’s fastest-growing job. Much of this growth has been attributed to the increase in business regulations like the Affordable Care Act; but it is record-setting growth none-the-less.
According to American City Business Journals, HR specialist saw a national growth rate of 18.1 percent from 2009 to 2014. The number of HR specialist jobs in the 106 largest U.S. job markets jumped to 456,000 in 2014 from about 198,000 just five years earlier.
HR specialists are also getting fairly compensated. The 2014 national pay average for the position was $62,590, with an annual increase of 2.8 percent for the past five years. That is much better than the 1.7 percent average for all U.S. workers. This average also ranks the position among the top 10 percent for jobs with the highest pay increases.
The reason for the increase in the need of HR specialists is not just regulatory. It may also be a sign of a strengthening economy.
Alice Waagen, founder and president of Workforce Learning, told American City Business Journals, “The slow-to-no-growth mentality of the recession made many business leaders cautious about adding to overhead. Hiring freezes abounded and support staff positions like HR, finance and IT were pretty much left unfilled. Now that the economy is recovering, leaders are looking at their shabby infrastructure and beginning to rebuild.”
Congratulations HR specialists. The market is tilting in your favor.
