What Do HR People Do All Day, Anyway?

The HR Dream vs. The HR Reality

Let me tell you a story about Sarah.

Sarah graduated with a degree in Psychology in 2018. She wanted to help people. Maybe become a therapist, or work in organizational development, or do something meaningful with understanding human behavior.

She sent out 200 applications. The one that called her back was “HR Coordinator” at a mid-size tech company. $45K, benefits, seemed fine. “I’ll do this for a year while I figure out what I really want to do.”

Fast forward 6 years: Sarah is now “HR Generalist” making $68K. She’s still there. This is her life now.

How did this happen?

Nobody Dreams of Working in HR

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Almost nobody grows up wanting to work in HR.

Ask a room full of HR professionals “Why did you get into HR?” and you’ll hear:

“I needed a job and they were hiring” (most common)
“I like helping people” (idealistic, pre-disillusionment)
“I studied Psychology/Communications and this was available” (accidental)
“I was an admin and they needed someone to do payroll” (promoted into it)
“I wanted to make a difference in workplace culture” (adorable, naive)

You know what you DON’T hear?

“I dreamed of being the person who tells employees their health insurance claim was denied” or “I always wanted to be the face of corporate policies that make everyone’s life harder.”

The pattern: People end up in HR by accident, necessity, or misguided idealism. Very few actively choose it as a calling.

So What DO They Actually Do All Day?

Let me break down an actual week for an HR Generalist at a 200-person company:

Monday:

8:00 AM: Process payroll corrections from last week (someone’s direct deposit bounced)
9:00 AM: Respond to 15 emails asking “when do we get paid for the holiday?”
10:00 AM: Post 3 job openings on LinkedIn, Indeed, and the company website
11:00 AM: Screen 47 resumes for a Data Analyst role (you have no idea what a Data Analyst does)
12:00 PM: Lunch, but actually answering Slack messages about PTO balances
1:00 PM: Phone screen with a candidate who clearly didn’t read the job description
2:00 PM: Hiring manager emails asking why their role isn’t filled yet (it’s been 5 days)
3:00 PM: Employee comes to your desk crying because their manager is an asshole
4:00 PM: Try to document the complaint, knowing nothing will actually happen
5:00 PM: Start planning the Q1 Town Hall that nobody wants to attend

Tuesday:

8:00 AM: New hire orientation (watch someone’s eyes glaze over during benefits presentation)
10:00 AM: Investigate a complaint that someone microwaved fish in the breakroom (yes, really)
11:00 AM: Reminder emails about mandatory compliance training nobody has completed
12:00 PM: Conference call about new FMLA regulations you have to somehow implement
2:00 PM: Interview candidates, take notes, send to hiring manager
3:00 PM: Hiring manager rejects all candidates for reasons like “didn’t seem enthusiastic enough”
4:00 PM: Post the same job opening again with slightly different wording
5:00 PM: Update spreadsheet tracking 37 open requisitions across 8 departments

Wednesday:

(Repeat Tuesday but add “plan the company picnic nobody asked for”)

Thursday:

(Repeat Monday but add “someone quit without notice, now scrambling”)

Friday:

8:00 AM: “Catch up on emails” (there are 89 unread)
All day: Put out fires, answer repetitive questions, wonder where your life went wrong

The theme?

HR is the nexus of corporate bullshit. Every stupid question, every petty complaint, every bureaucratic requirement, every desperate hiring manager, every annoying candidate—it all flows through HR.

You’re not building anything. You’re not solving interesting problems. You’re managing chaos and enforcing policies you didn’t create and don’t agree with.

The Corporate Toilet Scrubbers Theory

Someone asked me if I thought HR people are “the toilet scrubbers of the corporate world” and honestly? Kind of, yeah.

Here’s what I mean:

HR exists to handle the shit nobody else wants to deal with:

Firing people – Executives decide who gets laid off, HR delivers the news
Enforcing unpopular policies – “Sorry, no more remote work” came from leadership, but HR has to explain it
Compliance hell – FMLA, EEOC, ADA, FLSA, workers comp, I-9s, background checks, drug tests… it never ends
Petty disputes – “He took my stapler” / “She’s chewing too loudly” / “They didn’t say good morning”
Recruiting – Finding people who don’t want to be found, for roles nobody wants, at salaries that aren’t competitive
Being the bad guy – Every “no” comes from HR, even when it was someone else’s decision

The psychological toll:

You start idealistic: “I’m going to improve workplace culture! I’m going to help people!”

Then reality hits:

You can’t fire the toxic manager because he’s the CEO’s friend
You can’t give people raises because “budget constraints”
You can’t make the workplace better because leadership doesn’t care
You’re just enforcing policies that make people’s lives harder
Every attempt to “help” gets blocked by legal, finance, or executives

You become the face of corporate dysfunction, and everyone hates you for it.

The “Gotta Act Busy” Phenomenon

Someone asked me if HR people have a reputation for needing to justify their existence. Absolutely they do, and here’s why:

HR doesn’t generate revenue.

Sales makes money. Engineering builds products. Marketing drives growth. Operations keeps things running.

HR? HR is overhead.

So there’s constant pressure to prove value:

“What do you even do all day?”
“Why do we need 3 HR people for 200 employees?”
“Can’t we just outsource this?”

This creates perverse incentives:

1. Overcomplicating simple processes – “We need a 6-step interview process with personality tests and panel interviews and reference checks” (translation: if hiring was easy, you wouldn’t need us)

2. Creating bureaucracy – “You can’t just hire someone, you need to fill out these 47 forms and get 12 approvals” (translation: we’re adding value by adding friction)

3. Mandatory initiatives nobody wants – “Wellness Wednesday! Diversity training! Team-building exercises!” (translation: look, we’re doing things!)

4. Gatekeeping – “Only approved vendors can recruit for us” or “All candidates must go through HR first” (translation: protect our territory)

It’s not that HR people are inherently petty or power-hungry—they’re stuck in a system that requires them to justify their existence by creating work.

Why HR Might Cluck At External Recruiters (Even Though They Can’t Do It Themselves)

Here’s the psychology:

Scenario: Company needs a Senior Data Scientist. Internal HR recruiter (Susan) has been trying for 2 months. You (external recruiter) show up with the perfect candidate.

Susan’s internal monologue:

“If this external recruiter fills the role I couldn’t fill, it makes me look incompetent. My manager will ask ‘Why are we paying you if we need external recruiters?’ My job might be at risk. Plus, external recruiters cost 20% of salary—that could be MY budget for other things. And if I let this external guy succeed, it sets a precedent that we need external help. Better to block him and keep trying myself, even if it takes 3 more months.”

It’s not about what’s best for the company or the hiring manager. It’s about self-preservation.

The Web of Inefficiency:

You described it perfectly: HR people often come in with good intentions, then get caught in:

Greed that can never be satiated – “We need to cut costs” (but executives get bonuses)
Compliance that can never be complied – New regulations every quarter, impossible to keep up
Inefficiency that can never be fixed – “We’ve always done it this way” / “That would require IT changes” / “Legal won’t approve that”
A parade of bullshit – Bad candidates, difficult hiring managers, employee complaints, executive dysfunction

The result?

HR becomes defensive, territorial, and bureaucratic—not because they’re bad people, but because the system rewards that behavior.

If you make things easy and efficient, you prove you’re unnecessary. If you create friction and process, you prove you’re valuable.

But Wait—Some HR People Are Actually Good

Let me be fair: Not all HR people are petty gatekeepers.

The good ones:

1. Actually advocate for employees

Push back when executives want to cut benefits
Fight for competitive salaries
Create policies that help people, not just protect the company

2. Understand they’re facilitators, not gatekeepers

“My job is to help hiring managers hire great people, not block them”
Work WITH external recruiters when it makes sense
Don’t create unnecessary process

3. Focus on strategic impact

Org design (how to structure teams for success)
Talent planning (future workforce needs)
Culture building (making the company actually better to work at)

4. Have thick skin and empathy

Understand candidates are people, not resumes
Don’t take rejection personally
Actually care about outcomes, not just process

Why are some HR people nice and helpful?

Because they either:

Haven’t been beaten down yet (new to the role, still idealistic)
Work at good companies (leadership actually values HR, gives them resources and authority)
Are naturally resilient (can handle the bullshit without becoming bitter)
Found their niche (doing the parts of HR they actually enjoy, delegating the rest)

Why are some HR people petty and obstructive?

Because they:

Got burned too many times (tried to help, got punished for it)
Work at dysfunctional companies (leadership doesn’t value HR, so they fight for scraps)
Feel powerless (can’t change anything, so they control what little they can)
Are genuinely bad at their jobs (some people are just not good, in any field)

Why Would HR Block External Recruiters?

Let’s get specific about your question: Why would HR block external recruiters if they themselves can’t fill the role?

Three reasons:

1. Ego / Self-Preservation “If I admit I need help, I look incompetent. Better to keep trying and blame ‘market conditions’ or ‘the salary isn’t competitive’ than admit I failed.”

2. Budget Politics “That 20% recruiting fee could be MY budget for software, training, or headcount. If I let external recruiters succeed, leadership might cut my budget because ‘clearly you don’t need it.'”

3. Process Control “If we let any random recruiter submit candidates, we lose control of the process. We need ‘approved vendors’ who go through procurement and legal and sign our contracts. This random solo recruiter is a risk.”

But here’s the twist:

Good HR people don’t do this.

A competent, confident HR person says: “I’ve been working this role for 2 months. If an external recruiter has someone great, let’s see them. My job is to fill roles, not protect my ego.”

Insecure, territorial HR people do this.

And there are a LOT of insecure, territorial HR people—because the system breeds insecurity and territoriality.

The Approval Process (Why “Someone Has To Get Paid Anyway”)

Even if an external recruiter finds the candidate, someone in HR has to process the paperwork and approve payment.

Here’s what actually happens:

Scenario 1: HR cooperates

External recruiter brings candidate
HR says “Great, thanks for the help”
HR processes the hire, finance cuts the check
Everyone wins

Scenario 2: HR resists

External recruiter brings candidate
HR says “We need to vet this through our process”
HR slow-plays it, hopes to find someone else meanwhile
Or HR says “We actually found this person independently” (steal the candidate)
Or HR says “We can’t pay that fee, it’s not in budget”
External recruiter gets fucked

Why does Scenario 2 happen?

Because HR has zero incentive to make external recruiters successful and every incentive to protect their turf.

Even though they have to process the hire anyway, admitting an external recruiter succeeded where they failed is political suicide in a dysfunctional company.

So What’s The Verdict? Are HR People Good or Bad?

Neither. They’re trapped.

Most HR people are:

Overworked – Doing 5 jobs poorly instead of 1 job well
Underpaid – Relative to the value they create and stress they endure
Undervalued – Seen as overhead, not strategic partners
Burned out – Dealing with the nexus of corporate bullshit every single day
Defensive – Because the system punishes vulnerability and rewards gatekeeping

The ones who seem petty, territorial, and obstructive?

They’re not evil. They’re products of a dysfunctional system that:

Doesn’t give them authority to actually help
Punishes them for failures they can’t control
Requires them to justify their existence constantly
Rewards creating process over creating value

The ones who seem helpful, collaborative, and efficient?

They’re either:

New and haven’t been beaten down yet
Working at rare, functional companies
Exceptionally resilient humans
Smart enough to realize helping others is the only way to survive

The Takeaway

HR isn’t a career most people choose—it’s a career that happens to them.

They’re not toilet scrubbers by choice; they’re toilet scrubbers because someone has to do it and they were the ones who said yes when nobody else would.

Some handle it with grace and competence. Others become bitter, territorial gatekeepers.

The difference isn’t the person—it’s the environment they’re in and how long they’ve been there.