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Healthcare
Kaiser Permanente, HCA Healthcare, Mayo Clinic
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping
This job keeps HR paperwork moving: you answer benefit and policy questions, pull employee records, prepare onboarding materials, and help with reports and authorized record requests. The work is distinct because it sits where employees, managers, and confidential files all meet, so you have to be quick, accurate, and careful with privacy. The tradeoff is clear: it is a solid way into HR, but the pay is only moderate and the occupation is projected to shrink by 7.1% from 2024 to 2034.
Also known as HR AssistantHuman Resources AssistantPersonnel AssistantHR Administrative AssistantHuman Resources Administrative Assistant
Median Salary
$49,440
Mean $50,950
U.S. Workforce
~93K
9K openings per year
10-Year Growth
+-7.1%
95.2K to 88.4K
Entry Education
Associate's degree
+ None experience
What This Role Looks Like in Practice
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping sits in the Business category. In practical terms, this role combines day-to-day execution, cross-team coordination, and consistent decision-making under real business constraints.
U.S. employment is currently about ~93K workers, with a median annual pay of $49,440 and roughly 9K openings each year. Based on BLS projections, total employment is expected to decline from 95.2 K in 2024 to 88.4K in 2034.
Most hiring paths start with Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources, Business, or a Related Field, and employers typically expect none of related experience. Many careers in this track begin around Administrative Assistant and can progress toward HR Generalist. High-value skills usually include Workday HRIS & Employee Records Systems, Microsoft Excel, Outlook & Office 365, and ADP Workforce Now & Benefits Portals, paired with soft skills such as Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking.
Core Responsibilities
- Answer employees' and applicants' questions about benefits, eligibility, pay, and company policies.
- Look up and update personnel records when someone changes jobs, transfers, or has another HR action.
- Collect missing forms and files from managers, employees, or other departments.
- Prepare HR paperwork such as reports, letters, forms, and other documents.
Keep exploring: more Business careers or browse all job titles.
A Day in the Life
01 Answer employees' and applicants' questions about benefits, eligibility, pay, and company policies.
02 Look up and update personnel records when someone changes jobs, transfers, or has another HR action.
03 Collect missing forms and files from managers, employees, or other departments.
04 Prepare HR paperwork such as reports, letters, forms, and other documents.
05 Set up new-hire orientation and help people get through onboarding steps.
06 Help with benefits enrollment, workers' compensation paperwork, and approved record requests from outside organizations.
Industries That Hire
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Retail and E-commerce
Walmart, Amazon, Target
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Professional Services
Deloitte, Accenture, PwC
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Manufacturing
Boeing, 3M, General Motors
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Government and Public Sector
U.S. Postal Service, State of California, City of New York
Pros and Cons
Advantages
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The median pay is $49,440 and the mean is $50,950, which is decent for a role that usually does not require experience or on-the-job training.
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It gives you broad exposure to HR work, including onboarding, benefits, and records, which can help you move into coordinator or generalist roles later.
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The day-to-day work is structured, so the expectations are usually clear and the tasks are easy to prioritize.
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There are still about 9.0K annual openings, so even with weak growth there are real hiring opportunities.
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The skills transfer well across industries because every large organization needs people who can organize records, answer questions, and handle private information carefully.
Challenges
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Employment is expected to fall from 95.2K jobs in 2024 to 88.4K by 2034, a drop of 7.1%, so this is not a growth field.
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A lot of the work is repetitive, especially filing, document prep, and answering the same policy questions again and again.
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HR software and employee self-service systems can replace some of the recordkeeping and status-update tasks, which limits long-term demand.
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The role can cap out if you stay in assistant-level work, so moving up often means earning more credentials or taking on broader HR responsibilities.
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You deal with confidential records and sensitive topics like benefits, eligibility, and compensation, which can create stress and make mistakes costly.
Career Progression
Administrative Assistant
0-2 years
$33K-$41K
Handles scheduling, filing, and basic office support while learning how HR paperwork and records are organized.
Human Resources Assistant
1-4 years
$43K-$57K
Answers routine HR questions, maintains employee files, helps with onboarding, and supports benefits and policy work.
HR Coordinator THIS ROLE
4-7 years
$58K-$72K
Takes on more ownership of onboarding, reports, compliance tracking, and day-to-day HR process coordination.
HR Generalist
7-12 years
$73K-$93K
Handles broader HR cases, employee relations issues, and policy work with less supervision and more judgment.
Education Paths
Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources, Business, or a Related Field
The most common education path in the O*NET data, held by 33.81% of workers in this role.
Associate's Degree in Business, Office Administration, or Human Resources
A very common entry route, held by 27.35% of workers in this role.
High School Diploma with Office Experience
Some workers enter with a high school diploma, which accounts for 21.12% of workers in this role.
Postsecondary Certificate in Human Resources or Office Administration
A smaller group starts with a postsecondary certificate, which accounts for 5.71% of workers in this role.
Key Skills
Technical
Workday HRIS & Employee Records Systems 78%
Microsoft Excel, Outlook & Office 365 74%
ADP Workforce Now & Benefits Portals 69%
SAP SuccessFactors & Onboarding Tools 65%
DocuSign, SharePoint & HR Document Management 60%
Soft Skills
Active ListeningReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingCritical ThinkingSocial Perceptiveness Job Outlook and Trends
+-7.1%
Projected growth (2024-2034)
9K
Annual job openings
Employment is projected to rise from 95.2K to 88.4 K over the next decade, representing -7.1% growth. Around 9 K openings per year include both newly created roles and replacement hiring from turnover.
Remote availability is currently Moderate. Demand remains strongest where employers need practical domain knowledge plus modern workflow and data skills.