Human resources managers are below average when it comes to happiness.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, human resources managers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 38% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy human resources managers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Investment fund manager | 3.2 | $125k |
| Social media manager | 3.1 | $31k |
| Operations manager | 3.1 | $98k |
| Marketing manager | 3.1 | $135k |
| Advertising manager | 3.1 | $127k |
| Human resources manager | 3.1 | $126k |
| Economist | 3.1 | $106k |
| Project manager | 3.1 | $55k |
| Business analyst | 3.0 | $93k |
| Public relations specialist | 3.0 | $63k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are human resources managers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do human resources managers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as human resources managers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are human resources manager’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are human resources managers making the best use of their abilities?
Are human resources managers happy with their salary?
Human resources managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most human resources managers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked human resources managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
2817 human resources managers
16% of human resources managers rated their compensation 5 stars
30% of human resources managers rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of human resources managers rated their compensation 3 stars
17% of human resources managers rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of human resources managers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do human resources managers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, human resources managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.8/5. While most human resources managers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked human resources managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
2829 human resources managers
13% of human resources managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of human resources managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of human resources managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of human resources managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
19% of human resources managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as human resources managers?
Human resources managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of human resources managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked human resources managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
3071 human resources managers
30% of human resources managers rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of human resources managers rated their career fit 4 stars
21% of human resources managers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of human resources managers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of human resources managers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a human resources manager’s work environment?
As a whole, human resources managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of human resources managers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a human resources manager.
We asked human resources managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
3057 human resources managers
21% of human resources managers rated their work environment 5 stars
35% of human resources managers rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of human resources managers rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of human resources managers rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of human resources managers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are human resources managers making the best use of their abilities?
Former human resources managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most human resources managers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked human resources managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
3071 human resources managers
16% of human resources managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of human resources managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of human resources managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of human resources managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
11% of human resources managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars