The Australian Human Resource Management Profession: Current State and Future Challenges in the Post-COVID World of Work

Abstract

This paper provides a snapshot of the Australian human resource management (HRM) profession at a unique point in time: in the years immediately after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Drawing on the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data and a survey of HR practitioners, we identify the demographic characteristics of the HR profession, their position and the changing features of human resource management within the organisation. These changes have major implications for HRM practice with aspects such as hybrid working rapidly becoming the new normal. From a theoretical perspective, there is a need to explore these issues in the context of a multi-stakeholder approaches to HRM in this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment.