human resources

American  

[hyoo-muhn ree-sawr-sis, ree-zawr-siz, yoo-muhn] / ˈhju mən ˈri sɔr sɪs, ˈri zɔr sɪz, ˈju mən /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) people, especially the personnel employed by a given company, institution, or the like.

2. (used with a singular verb) human resources department.

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human resources British  

plural noun

1. 1. the workforce of an organization

   2. ( as modifier )

      human-resources management

      human-resources officer

2. 1. the office or department in an organization that interviews, appoints, or keeps records of employees

   2. ( as modifier )

      a human-resources consultancy

3. the contribution to an employing organization which its workforce could provide in effort, skills, knowledge, etc

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Etymology

Origin of human resources

First recorded in 1965–70

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

human resources

Before that, she worked in various human resources and office manager roles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

That includes some human resources work as well as an artificial intelligence transformation Goldman calls “OneGS 3.0,” that involves changing the firm’s internal operating model and improving overall productivity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

A few seats away, 30-year-old human resources manager Julia Garcia has done the same.

From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026

Jo Jackson, head of human resources, said she would like to hire more apprentices but training is expensive and the content apprentices are taught is not always "flexible enough".

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

“And how did you become the human resources manager?”

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

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