Human resources teams face growing demands to drive talent acquisition and enhance the employee experience. To support these priorities, HR managers must ensure their people have specific skills in the areas of learning and development, strategy, and technology implementation, including AI oversight.

HR leaders must take a thoughtful approach to compensation for the entire organization and for their own teams. With specialized talent in short supply, competitive pay is important, but so is clearly communicating career growth potential, upskilling opportunities, company values and organizational culture. When salary budgets are tight, these differentiators can help attract high-caliber candidates and make job offers stand out.

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The salaries below default to national averages. Select a job category and city to find figures for a specific market. Starting compensation can vary significantly based on a candidate’s skills, experience and certifications, as well as other factors including industry, company size and revenue, and demand for the role. To reflect this variability, we report our compensation data in 3 levels: low, mid and high.

Compensation and Benefits

HRIS

Human Resources

Talent Acquisition

Job Title

Low

Mid

High

Director of Total Rewards

108000

131000

152500

Compensation Manager

79500

95000

115000

Compensation Analyst

61750

70750

85750

Benefits Manager

72750

90500

113000

Benefits Specialist

48000

64500

79250

Stock Administrator

62750

71750

91750

Low

The candidate is new to the role or has limited experience and is building necessary skills.

Mid

The candidate has moderate experience in the role, meets most requirements or has equivalent transferable skills, and may also have relevant certifications.

High

The candidate has extensive experience and advanced skills for the role, and may also have specialized certifications.

2026 Human Resources Compensation Trends

Year-over-year salary gains

+1.6%

projected average increase across human resources roles

+2.4%

for HRIS professionals as demand for digital HR transformation and data-driven HR strategy grows

+2.4%

for compensation and benefits professionals as regulatory complexity grows and their role in talent strategy expands

The value of advanced skills

86% of human resources leaders typically offer higher salaries to candidates with specialized skills than to those without them in the same role.

Top skills leaders are willing to pay more for:

HR strategy and execution

Technology implementation

Learning and development

HRM knowledge

Compensation and benefits management

Organizations are increasingly willing to offer more competitive packages to secure professionals who can lead strategic initiatives and support business-critical goals like tech modernization. This shift reflects a growing recognition of HR’s impact on organizational success and the need to invest accordingly.

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of HR leaders say their team will be involved in a major digital transformation initiative over the next 2 years. of HR leaders say their team will be involved in a major digital transformation initiative over the next 2 years.

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say they are willing to negotiate a higher starting salary with a candidate if the role supports a critical business need. say they are willing to negotiate a higher starting salary with a candidate if the role supports a critical business need.

Managing pay expectations

69% of HR leaders express concern about keeping pace with candidates’ pay expectations. Many recognize they must prioritize strategies that address job seekers’ needs and streamline the hiring process.

Adding new benefits and perks

Increasing starting salaries

Including salary ranges in job descriptions

Flexibility is a key consideration for many HR candidates today. More than half of professionals in this field say they would consider taking only roles that offer flexible work arrangements.

Hiring managers who may not be able to compete on salary alone can stand out by emphasizing hybrid work options and nontraditional hours as part of their recruitment strategy.

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of HR job seekers say positions with hybrid work arrangements are their top preference. of HR job seekers say positions with hybrid work arrangements are their top preference.

The need for skilled contract talent

When budgets don’t allow hiring for new permanent roles, many organizations engage contract professionals to help close skills gaps and manage heavy workloads, and to serve as a trial period for potential future hires.

Bringing in contract talent can also help managers better allocate resources because they’re paying for specialized expertise only when it’s needed for specific projects.

Top certifications, industries, emerging roles

Candidates with in-demand certifications like those listed below can often command higher starting salaries, notably in sectors experiencing active hiring and strong demand for specialized skills.

Human Resources Information Program (HRIP)

Professional in Human Resources (PHR)

SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)

Talent Management Practitioner (TMP)

Many companies in the following industries are willing to pay more for the right combination of skills and experience. Likewise, these industries are providing greater opportunities for career advancement and salary growth.

Education

Financial services

Healthcare

Insurance

Below are a few human resources positions gaining traction in 2026. As these and other new roles evolve and grow in demand, setting competitive salaries can be challenging—prompting 36% of leaders to turn to recruiters for guidance.

AI-powered learning and development designer: Creates personalized learning paths using AI-driven platforms and integrates AI tutors and adaptive content into development programs

Conversational AI designer: Designs and manages AI-powered HR chatbots for employee self-service and ensures AI responses are accurate, consistent and aligned with HR policy

Ethical AI and HR compliance officer: Oversees the responsible use of AI in hiring and performance management; ensures ethical, legal and fair use of algorithms and data

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The salary benchmarks listed in the Salary Guide From Robert Half are the result of a rigorous, multistep process so that our projections accurately reflect the marketplace. They are based on actual compensation for professionals Robert Half has matched with employers across the country and third-party job posting data from Textkernel that we use to independently validate the salary levels. Learn more about our methodology.

Non-salary data referenced in the Salary Guide is based on online surveys developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Respondents include hiring managers and workers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-plus employees) private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across the United States.