SmartMoney (04/26/12) Quentin Fottrell

Human resource departments are growing, even though the job outlook remains weak. The number of human resource specialists is expected to increase 21% by 2020, while the number of human resource managers is expected to increase 13%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Through the year ended March 2012, human resource job listings rose 14.5% to 288,258, according to SimplyHired.com. The increase in human resource staff is not necessarily indicative of hiring in other areas, though. There were large cuts in human resource jobs during the recession, and these jobs are just now returning to normal levels, says Pierpont Securities chief economist Stephen Stanley.