human resources

American  

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

Example Sentences

And in human resources, a new agent will soon be able to not only answer questions about benefits and policies, but also take actions, like writing and submitting quarterly employee objectives.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Moving a corporate stock plan can take months if not years and can require approval from corporate human resources departments and other stakeholders.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

And they shouldn’t be given a specific job title, Nickle LaMoreaux, chief human resources officer at IBM said, speaking Thursday at the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Chief People Officer Summit in Menlo Park, Calif.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

You could move to consulting, corporate training, human resources, educational technology and publishing, public relations or content development.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 9, 2026

On that visit, my dad introduced me to Mr. Stephen Mutandwa, the head of human resources.

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