Human Resources Specialists: Creating a Quality Workforce Spanning All Industries

September 11, 2025

Successful companies rely on recruiting, training, and retaining top talent to remain competitive. Human resources (HR) specialists work behind the scenes to interview and hire workers, shape workplace culture, and manage employee relations. HR specialists are key to ensuring companies run smoothly and remain compliant with laws and regulations.

What do Human Resources Specialists do?

The human resources specialist role has evolved beyond just the traditional administrative tasks of recruiting, onboarding, and payroll. Modern HR specialists perform a great variety of duties to contribute to the overall organization and strategy of the companies they work for, such as:

• Interpret and explain company policies, procedures, standards, or regulations so employees can better understand them.
• Hire new employees and process hiring-related paperwork.
• Share knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), with managers.
• Maintain employment records related to hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions within human resources management system software.
• Address employee relations issues such as harassment allegations or work complaints.
• Inform job applicants of duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, and promotion opportunities.

There are many other tasks that fall under the umbrella of human resources, so HR specialists are often cross trained in several disciplines of their company’s human resources department.

Employment Trends and Major Industries

There were 10,710 human resources specialists in Oregon in 2023, according to the Oregon Employment Department, making this occupation much larger than most occupations across the state. The total number of job openings for the occupation is projected to outpace most occupations in Oregon through 2033 and it is projected to grow 8.2% statewide in that time. The large number of Oregonians in this occupation correlates with HR specialists being present in such a wide variety of industries.

Human resources specialists are present in most industries because HR is a crucial function of almost every organization. The following industries employ a high share of Oregon’s human resources specialists:

• Health Care and Social Assistance – 15.7%
• Administrative and Support and Waste Management 
• and Remediation Services – 14.1%
• Employment Services – 10.2%
• Management of Companies and Enterprises – 9.9%

Competitive Pay When Compared with Average of All Occupations

Aspiring human resources specialists can count on finding positions that pay competitively when compared with the statewide median wage for all occupations of $26.28. On average, HR specialists can expect to make around $38.84 hourly, with those in the 90th percentile earning upwards of $55.87 hourly statewide. That’s a significant difference between the entry-level and top talent for HR specialists and illustrates just how varied the world of HR can be and how much room there is to grow beyond entry level.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required for Human Resources Specialists

The typical entry-level education for this occupation is a bachelor’s degree. Respondent information from human resources professionals available on the U.S Department of Labor’s O*NET Online suggests that 47% of Human Resource Specialist occupations require a bachelor’s degree. Degrees in Human Resource Management, Business Administration, and Psychology are among the most common. Several community colleges in Oregon, including Lane Community College and Central Oregon Community College, offer human resources prep courses and Clackamas Community College offers a one-year Human Resources Management Certification program. Those looking to enter the field of human resources without a degree or certification often gain initial entry-level experience in a human resources assistant role.

Certifications such as the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) from the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) and SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) from The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) may provide HR candidates with an additional competitive advantage.

Human resources specialists rely on various hard skills required through a combination of education and experience as well as soft skills learned and practiced in daily life. Here are some additional knowledge, skills, and abilities that are useful in an HR specialist role provided by the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET Online:

• Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Could a Career in Human Resources Be Right for You?

If you enjoy helping others, solving problems, and shaping workplace culture, a career as a human resources specialist might be a perfect fit. Human resources professionals are key players in almost every industry and will continue to see steady occupational growth over the next decade. Wages are competitive and should continue to remain that way as human resources professionals have become such a vital component of most businesses.