Is Human Resource Management the Manager of the New Class Employment System?

Abstract:     
This research investigates and finds support for the hypothesis that the demand human resource managers is largely derived from the relative demand for professional, managerial, and technical employees who possess high levels of occupationally specific human capital. Strong demand for these employees significantly increases both employment and earnings of human resource managers, reflecting the growing importance of occupational specific capital to firm performance and the practice of human resources.

During the last several decades, the emergence of a new class comprised of professional, technical, and specialized managerial occupations has required the restructuring human resource management (HRM). Evidence is presented that HRM has increasingly shifted its activities away from the management of enterprise internal labor markets based on firm specific human capital, to coordinating organizational demand for employees with high levels of occupationally specific human capital acquired in universities, professional apprenticeships, expert associations and journals, and specialized training. HRM has become the employment relations manager of this new class employment system.

Keywords: Human Resource Management

JEL Classification: J31

working papers series