human resources

[ hyoo-muhn ree-sawr-sis, ree-zawr-siz, yoo-muhn ]

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.

human resources

plural noun

1. 1. the workforce of an organization
   2. ( as modifier )

      human-resources officer

      human-resources management

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of human resources¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Rachael was 23 and working at Mohamed Al Fayed's private office in 1994, when she was rung by the Harrods human resources team and offered a position as personal assistant to Salah.

From BBC

So did pressing ‘4’ for human resources.

From Salon

Trump “will go against whatever the rules say that he should do,” said Warren, who works in human resources.

From Los Angeles Times

Experts generally agree that the occupations held by middle-class earners center on salaried office professions like K-12 teachers and human resources specialists or high-skill technical labor.

From Salon

“When you’re paying someone $400,000 a year, as one terminated employee claimed, why would you care if they occasionally used their meal vouchers for other things?” inquired human resources consultant and self-proclaimed "evil HR lady" Suzanne Lucas in an op-ed for Inc. “Well, precisely because you’re paying that someone to work. The point of meal vouchers is not, and never has been, to be kind. It’s to keep people working through their meals.”

From Salon