Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping
Also called: Human Resources Administrative Assistant (HR Administrative Assistant), Human Resources Assistant (HR Assistant), Human Resources Associate (HR Associate), Personnel ClerkCompile and keep personnel records. Record data for each employee, such as address, weekly earnings, absences, amount of sales or production, supervisory reports, and date of and reason for termination. May prepare reports for employment records, file employment records, or search employee files and furnish information to authorized persons.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 15 of its 19 tasks, and jobs are projected to shrink 6.2% by 2035. In the most exposed occupations, the squeeze shows up first among early-career workers. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 2.7% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.9 hires for every 10 job openings in professional and business services, which employs about 26% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.7.9 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $42,140 | $34,270 to $51,630 | 960 |
| Alaska | $56,510 | $50,360 to $64,350 | 260 |
| Arizona | $47,890 | $42,340 to $56,460 | 1,490 |
| Arkansas | $46,190 | $38,770 to $51,240 | 720 |
| California | $57,590 | $48,470 to $65,560 | 11,490 |
| Colorado | $54,880 | $47,750 to $63,160 | 1,660 |
| Connecticut | $54,130 | $47,100 to $61,740 | 910 |
| Delaware | $50,850 | $45,720 to $58,720 | 290 |
| District of Columbia | $59,050 | $50,450 to $66,870 | 610 |
| Florida | $48,330 | $42,060 to $56,310 | 3,210 |
| Georgia | $46,830 | $40,330 to $55,450 | 2,510 |
| Guam | $35,990 | $28,920 to $47,130 | 100 |
| Hawaii | $49,260 | $44,330 to $56,570 | 450 |
| Idaho | $51,770 | $45,500 to $58,160 | 280 |
| Illinois | $48,310 | $44,750 to $58,050 | 4,140 |
| Indiana | $47,850 | $41,600 to $55,950 | 1,870 |
| Iowa | $48,490 | $38,940 to $56,660 | 920 |
| Kansas | $49,630 | $41,940 to $55,540 | 660 |
| Kentucky | $50,400 | $43,940 to $57,750 | 1,240 |
| Louisiana | $47,490 | $38,560 to $53,880 | 750 |
| Maine | $49,710 | $44,450 to $56,340 | 490 |
| Maryland | $56,880 | $48,080 to $62,880 | 1,480 |
| Massachusetts | $55,840 | $48,160 to $63,810 | 1,400 |
| Michigan | $48,250 | $42,640 to $55,020 | 1,890 |
| Minnesota | $54,520 | $49,040 to $60,040 | 3,380 |
| Mississippi | $44,780 | $35,770 to $52,650 | 1,010 |
| Missouri | $47,960 | $41,910 to $55,850 | 1,090 |
| Montana | $50,070 | $45,940 to $59,070 | 140 |
| Nebraska | $47,130 | $40,750 to $52,790 | 440 |
| Nevada | $47,900 | $41,340 to $54,790 | 1,390 |
| New Hampshire | $51,400 | $45,440 to $60,040 | 470 |
| New Jersey | $54,410 | $47,350 to $60,940 | 4,000 |
| New Mexico | $49,650 | $43,000 to $52,980 | 620 |
| New York | $52,920 | $46,290 to $63,350 | 8,800 |
| North Carolina | $48,190 | $41,410 to $55,430 | 2,790 |
| North Dakota | $53,000 | $47,020 to $61,680 | 110 |
| Ohio | $48,310 | $42,840 to $58,510 | 2,770 |
| Oklahoma | $44,950 | $39,330 to $53,510 | 600 |
| Oregon | $53,550 | $47,760 to $59,200 | 1,050 |
| Pennsylvania | $48,800 | $43,710 to $57,530 | 2,700 |
| Puerto Rico | $29,080 | $23,960 to $36,290 | 1,050 |
| Rhode Island | $56,370 | $49,090 to $62,110 | 150 |
| South Carolina | $45,300 | $38,850 to $52,420 | 1,190 |
| South Dakota | $45,150 | $39,110 to $51,440 | 190 |
| Tennessee | $45,760 | $39,860 to $54,210 | 3,930 |
| Texas | $47,540 | $39,760 to $57,160 | 5,890 |
| Utah | $45,790 | $37,340 to $53,290 | 700 |
| Vermont | $51,810 | $46,830 to $57,190 | 140 |
| Virginia | $51,950 | $45,510 to $60,840 | 2,160 |
| Washington | $57,390 | $50,530 to $65,370 | 2,350 |
| West Virginia | $42,990 | $36,690 to $49,940 | 480 |
| Wisconsin | $48,690 | $43,440 to $57,430 | 1,890 |
| Wyoming | $49,660 | $40,330 to $59,010 | 90 |
Nationally: $50,610. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 15 of its 19 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI alone | Explain company personnel policies, benefits, and procedures to employees or job applicants. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Process, verify, and maintain personnel related documentation, including staffing, recruitment, training, grievances, performance evaluations, classifications, and employee leaves of absence. | Not published |
| AI + software | Examine employee files to answer inquiries and provide information for personnel actions. | under 0.01% |
| AI alone | Answer questions regarding examinations, eligibility, salaries, benefits, and other pertinent information. | 0.01% |
| AI + software | Record data for each employee, including such information as addresses, weekly earnings, absences, amount of sales or production, supervisory reports on performance, and dates of and reasons for terminations. | Not published |
| AI + software | Gather personnel records from other departments or employees. | Not published |
See all 19 tasks
| Not much | Provide assistance in administering employee benefit programs and worker's compensation plans. | Not published |
| AI + software | Search employee files to obtain information for authorized persons and organizations, such as credit bureaus and finance companies. | Not published |
| Not much | Prepare and set up for new employee orientations. | Not published |
| AI + software | Inform job applicants of their acceptance or rejection of employment. | Not published |
| AI + software | Compile and prepare reports and documents pertaining to personnel activities. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Request information from law enforcement officials, previous employers, and other references to determine applicants' employment acceptability. | Not published |
| AI + software | Process and review employment applications to evaluate qualifications or eligibility of applicants. | Not published |
| AI + software | Interview job applicants to obtain and verify information used to screen and evaluate them. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Arrange for advertising or posting of job vacancies and notify eligible workers of position availability. | Not published |
| Not much | Arrange for in-house and external training activities. | Not published |
| AI + software | Select applicants meeting specified job requirements and refer them to hiring personnel. | Not published |
| AI + software | Prepare badges, passes, and identification cards, and perform other security-related duties. | Not published |
| AI + software | Administer and score applicant and employee aptitude, personality, and interest assessment instruments. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 5 of the 19 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 19 tasks fall under 11 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #1 Gather information from physical or electronic sources
- #12 Explain regulations, policies, or procedures
- #33 Compile records, documentation, or other data
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perform recruiting or hiring activities | |||
| Gather information from physical or electronic sources | |||
| Explain regulations, policies, or procedures | |||
| Compile records, documentation, or other data | |||
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Issue documentation | |||
| Interview people to obtain information | |||
| Collect data about consumer needs or opinions |
Show all 11 activities
| Perform human resources activities | |||
| Train others on operational or work procedures | |||
| Set up classrooms, facilities, educational materials, or equipment |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- An explanation or answer33%
- A document or report17%
- Data or a spreadsheet11%
- An analysis or summary9%
- An email or message7%
How they worked with Claude
58% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 106,667 moves out
- 1 Human Resources Specialists Very high +6.4% 17%
- 2 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Very high -6.0% 8%
- 3 Human Resources Managers High +5.5% 7%
- 4 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 4%
- 5 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 3%
Where people moved in from
of 82,198 moves in
- 1 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Very high -6.0% 10%
- 2 Human Resources Specialists Very high +6.4% 9%
- 3 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 7%
- 4 Retail Salespersons Very high -0.3% 3%
- 5 Receptionists and Information Clerks Very high -1.7% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 21% high school
- 6% postsecondary certificate
- 11% some college
- 27% associate's
- 34% bachelor's
- 1% master's
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 37 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 1% less than high school
- 15% high school
- 20% some college
- 10% associate's
- 40% bachelor's
- 13% master's
- 2% professional degree
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 1,191 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
4 programs, such as Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General, Business/Office Automation/Technology/Data Entry and Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General.
See all
- Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General
- Business/Office Automation/Technology/Data Entry
- Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
- Human Resources Management and Services, Other
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
7.4% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| an educational certificate | <0.5% | 2.8% |
| a license | not published | |
| a certification | not published |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 2 registered apprenticeships in this occupation (PERSONNEL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT (3S0X2); Personnel Systems Management (Alt Title: Human Resource Spec)). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS · Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen, Stanford (Aug 2026)
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/43-4161.00