Human resources industry basically comprises individuals in an organization that provide a wide range of day-to-day office administrative services to clients, employees such as assistance with financial planning, billing and record keeping, personnel, physical distribution and logistics. Human resources (HR) generally refers to those individuals that operate an organization. The HR department is a critical component of any business as they are responsible for a wide variety of functions. As a department, Human Resources is the part of the organization that deals with employee relations. From a high level, the human resources department of a company deals with payroll, benefits, hiring, firing, and regulations management. For businesses, in order for organizations to stay ahead, they must be proficient in recruiting and retention that is by hiring and keeping the best employees, and they must be able to explain their compensation and benefit packages that come along with the respective position. For individuals, they must be able to find the jobs that meet their specific skill sets and offer the best opportunities for career development and advancement. Typically HR is the department of a company responsible for overall employee relations, and it is challenged with balancing the welfare of the employees as well as the company itself. Since the human resources function can be quite broad, within this department a human resource generalist is mainly in focused on human resource policies and procedures. The general human resources function involves someone who is not only responsible for the hiring and firing of individuals, but also the management of the talent within an organization. Since most large companies have numerous individuals on staff, there are sometimes conflicting views and this department is partly responsible for managing employee relations.

 

In addition, the consulting services provided by and for HR, that the five years period to 2013, revenue for the HR consulting industry increased at an annualized 0.4%, reaching the value of $26 billion. HR management has become more important as the economy across many developing and developed nations become more service oriented, putting emphasis on employee relations and benefits, according to IBISWorld. The market has expanded due to the advantages it affords companies such as expertise, a wide potential candidate base and a large network. The American employment services market generated close to $75 billion in 2010, according to MarketLine., and the year over year growth between 2006 and 2010 was at -4%, and it is expected to rise to almost 5% between 2010 and 2015, bringing the market to over $94 billion.

 

The global HR industry exceeded the value of $356 billion in 2010, according to MarketLine. Market growth is expected to maintain a yearly rate of 5% between 2010 and 2015 to exceed $454 billion. Temporary staffing services represent the leading market segment, exceeding the value of $256 billion, or more than 70% of the overall market, according to Koncept Analytics, and there are two key categories within the recruitment industry, that is general and professional staffing on one hand, and then outsourcing, temporary and permanent staffing on the other. General staffing predominantly involves lower wage, less-skilled workers, and is the most common type of staffing. It also encompasses professional staffing, which involves professionals with a broader skill set earning a higher wage. The global employment services market is expected to exceed $319 billion by the end of 2015, according to Global Industry Analysts. Market growth is expected to be fueled by economic recovery in the short term, and by globalization and development of emerging economies in the long run.

 

In addition to the weakened demand in 2009 and 2010, the industry faced increased competition from other industries over the past five years. Consulting firms that have traditionally served finance and accounting clients are beginning to offer more HR-related services. As a result, the industry has experienced a period of consolidation as firms join forces or acquire other players to be more competitive, for example- two high-profile mergers took place in 2010, of Aon Consulting Worldwide merged with Hewitt Associates to form Aon Hewitt, and Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt merged to form Towers Watson. The Europe dominates the market. Asia-Pacific is expected to record the highest yearly rate of market growth. Developing economies in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific are attracting employment service providers due to their huge growth potential. The Europe represents the largest regional market within the global recruitment industry, with North America representing the second-largest region.

 

The major players in the HR industry include Adecco, Randstad. Manpower, Kelly Services,CDI, Beijing Foreign Enterprise Human Resource Service, Pasona, Synergie, China International Intellectech, Manpower, Randstad Holding, China International Talent Development Center, Adecco, Poolia, Monster Worldwide, 51job, ESI International, Korn/ Ferry International, and Kelly Services.