Business, Finance & Entrepreneurship
HR Manager
मानव संसाधन (एचआर) मैनेजर
Helps an organisation hire, develop, pay and look after its people, and keeps workplace policies fair and lawful.
See when you could start working, and what it could payWhat people in India report they earn
See HR manager salaries shared by employees: Glassdoor India(opens in a new tab) · Indeed India(opens in a new tab).
These figures are self-reported on those sites and aren't checked by Edukrish. Pay varies a lot by city, employer and experience.
- Class 11–12 stream
- Open to any stream
- Key subjects
- Psychology, Business Studies, English
- Often valued in this work
- Leadership & recognition, Stability, Impact on others
What the work looks like
- Recruiting and onboarding new employees
- Handling employee questions, concerns and performance processes
- Designing training, pay and policies with managers
The realities
People-intensive and sometimes sensitive work, from hiring to difficult conversations. Most people start as HR executives or recruiters, and knowledge of labour law matters.
The usual route in India
A degree in any subject (BBA, BA Psychology and B.Com are common), then an MBA or PG diploma in Human Resources.
Entrance exams and tests
- CUET-UG — dates and details
- IPMAT — dates and details
- CAT (for MBA) — dates and details
- XAT (for MBA) — dates and details
Linked exams open their official dates and sources.
Other ways in
Psychology and law graduates bring useful skills to HR; some people move in from operations or recruitment roles.
Colleges with courses for this career
From courses we've collected from official college websites. Not a ranking, and not every college that offers it.
- Chandigarh University
BBA - Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons./Hons. with Research) · MBA - Masters of Business Administration
- Jamia Millia Islamia
M.A Human Resource Management (MHRM) (Distance MODE) · M.A.(Human Resource Management)
- Symbiosis Institute of Business Management
M.B.A. · M.B.A. (HRM - IAIA)
- Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University
MBA (Financial Management/Marketing Management/Human Resource Management/Innovation Entrepreneurship & Venture Development/Defence Studies & Strategic Management)
- Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
Integrated Programme in Management
- Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli
PGPM HR (MBA HR)
- University of Hyderabad
M.B.A.
- XLRI - Xavier School of Management
Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management
Sources and checks
Not yet expert-checked: Written by the Edukrish team and not yet reviewed by a counsellor or subject expert. Verify important details with official sources.Written by the Edukrish team and not yet reviewed by a counsellor or subject expert. Exam names, eligibility and routes change, so always confirm with the official body before deciding.
Last updated
Quick answers
- How long does it take to become an HR manager in India?
- On the usual route (Degree + MBA / PGDM in HR), about 5 years after Class 12. A student in Class 12 in 2026–27 could start working around 2032; a student in Class 8 around 2036. A preparation year, a master's or a repeated year moves this later.
- How much does an HR manager earn?
- Edukrish doesn't publish an India salary figure for this career yet, because reliable occupation-level data that can be reused doesn't exist publicly. In the United States, median pay for human resources managers was $149,280 a year in 2025; the lowest-paid 10% earned under $88,200 and the top 10% over $267,810 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
- Will AI take over the work of an HR manager?
- The ILO's 2025 index of generative-AI exposure says this occupation group ("Human resource managers") has minimal exposure: of its 11 typical tasks, 11 have low exposure; none is highly exposed. Exposure measures what the technology could do today, not job losses; it usually changes which tasks people spend time on.
Your future as an HR manager
When you could start working, what the work could look like by then, and what it could pay.
Pay data for
- You could start working
- 2034in about 8 years · as hr executive / management trainee
- Pay in India
- We show India pay only where there's an official public figure, such as government pay scales. This career doesn't have one yet.
Your pay over the career
Shown only where reliable data exists.
No reliable pay data for India yet
- India's official survey data (PLFS) can be used commercially only under a licence, and salary websites don't allow reuse. Rather than show a guess, we leave India pay out until there's a figure we're allowed to use.
Your path from today
Three-year degree, then a two-year MBA or PG diploma in human resources.
Today
Class 10 · 2026–27
Finish Class 12
May 2029
BBA / BA (Psychology) / B.Com
Aug 2029 – Jun 2032
MBA / PGDM (Human Resources)
Jul 2032 – May 2034
First role: HR executive / management trainee
Jun 2034
Growing in the role
2039 (5 years in)
Senior roles, for some
2044+ (10 years in)
A plan, not a promise: a repeated year, a break or a change of course moves these dates.
How the career can grow
Illustrative steps; the years vary by employer and person. Many people stay at a specialist level by choice.
HR executive / recruiter
Often 0–2 years in · from about 2034
Learns the work on real projects, with close guidance.
HR generalist or specialist
Often 3–5 years in · from about 2037
Owns pieces of work end to end and needs less supervision.
HR manager
Often 6–9 years in · from about 2040
Handles complex work, sets direction for a project and guides newer colleagues.
Senior HR manager or HR business partner
Often 10–14 years in · from about 2044
Leads larger areas or teams, or becomes the go-to expert in a specialism.
Head of HR / CHRO
Often 15+ years in · from about 2049
Shapes strategy for a department or organisation. Only some people reach this level.
Demand and how the work may change
Official US outlook, 2025–2035
Employment growth: Faster than average (5% to 6%) · about 16,800 openings a year.
There's no reliable job-postings data for India yet, so these signals come from the US.
Exposure to generative AI (ILO, 2025)
Limited exposure: generative AI can help with some tasks; most still rely on people.
- Very low
- Low
- Medium
- High
How many of the 11 typical tasks of “human resource managers” current generative AI could technically do. Exposure is not the same as job loss: it often changes which tasks people spend their time on. By 2034 the tools will be different again, so treat this as direction, not a forecast.
Who hires people in this career
- Banks and investment firms
- Audit, tax and consulting firms
- Consumer and industrial companies
- Start-ups
- Your own business
Kinds of employers today, written by our team. We name companies only with dated hiring evidence, and never suggest a company will be hiring in 2034.
How we work this out: sources, assumptions and limits
Why “no reliable pay data yet”
- India's official survey data (PLFS) can be used commercially only under a licence, and salary websites don't allow reuse. Rather than show a guess, we leave India pay out until there's a figure we're allowed to use.
Timeline assumptions
- Today is in the 2026–27 school year (April to March).
- One class per year, with no repeated year.
- Class 12 results arrive around May; college intakes start on the months shown.
- Admission in the first year you apply.
- Courses take their standard length; a failed year or a break adds time.
- The first job starts about a month after the last stage ends.
Sources
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. US public domain.
- Employment Projections 2025–35 — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. US public domain.
- Generative AI and jobs: refined global index of occupational exposure — International Labour Organization (Working Paper 140, 2025). CC BY 4.0.
- Social Security Trustees Report 2025 (economic assumptions) — US Social Security Administration. US public domain.
- Flexible inflation target, April 2026 – March 2031 — Government of India / Reserve Bank of India. Official government publication (facts).
- Average hourly earnings by industry and CPI (back-test data) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). US public domain (BLS data).
- PLFS unit-level data (2025 calendar year) — MoSPI (microdata.gov.in). GSDD 2026: free for non-commercial use; commercial use needs MoSPI authorisation and a fee.
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