Even before the 2020s knocked companies sideways, HR was an area of the business full of its own “special” challenges.

You laugh. You cry. You cringe at the HR horror stories..

You wake up and do it all over again. Whether you're looking for the next beautifully relatable meme to send to a fellow HR comrade or just wanting to blow off a little steam, we've got you covered with 16 hilariously awesome HR memes.

Check out our lineup of unmissable HR manager memes, including memes for when you’re dealing with day-to-day office HR life, pandemic-related drama, or the rollercoaster ride of the role itself.

Grab a cup of joe and let’s go!

1. The ‘what it’s really like to work in HR’ meme

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When you work in HR, the desktop notification juggling act quickly becomes second nature.

Whether you’re writing job descriptions, playing point-person on pending job offers, scheduling training or designing workplace policies, there is (for better or worse) never a dull day.

2. The search struggle is real

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In-house recruiter or external expert, no matter how seasoned you are with those Boolean strings, some roles can um…take a while to fill.

You’ve written the best job ad. Posted it on all the right job boards. Taken all the right steps.

But after one round of interviews, that perfect candidate remains elusive.

No biggie. You’ll just…keep…searching. 🥴

3. When the candidate finally accepts your offer 🙌🏼

You finally found ‘the one’.

Elated, you make the phone call to let them know they’ve got the job!

You wait with bated breath, hoping that the past two months of the application process have been as good for them as they have been for you.

They say they’ll “think about it”. Your heart drops.

But then, after what seems like a lifetime of waiting, the candidate calls back and says that they would like to accept. Yes!

Now you can relax for um <checks watch>, approximately five minutes…

4. And when they don’t…

Why…you…little….!!!

Alright, okay. Take a deep breath. After all, working in HR is about overcoming challenges isn’t it?

We’ve all been on that final stretch of the hiring process only to get sent all the way back to the starting line.

Here’s hoping your second choice is still available, otherwise it’s back to square one. 😔

5. The onboarding overwhelm HR meme

The first day on the job is always a doozy.

So many names to remember. So many processes. So many forms to fill out.

Welcome to onboarding overload! Thankfully, your friendly neighborhood HR pro is on hand to make the transition a *little* less intimidating. 😅

6. Who, me?

You work so hard looking after everyone else on the team, sometimes it can come as a shock when someone asks how YOU are.

When the weeks get rough, don’t forget to fill your HR cup!

7. But first, coffee

Speaking of cups, did someone say “triple espresso americano with an extra shot”?

If your HR team’s caffeine intake is above the national average, it’s hardly surprising.

With all the balls in the air, it’s a wonder you have time to ever step foot in the break room.

When you’ve got resumes to review, interviews to conduct and about a million emails to reply to (oh, and it’s only Monday morning), you can thank your lucky stars (and HR coffee memes like this one) for the existence of this most magical bean. ☕

8. Nope. Never heard of it.

Two words that inspire fear in every HR manager.

As a record number of employees leave their jobs, the pressure on HR becomes even more real. But yeah anyway, I’m just gonna get back to these incoming applicants.

9. Um…oops?

Don’t.Even.Joke.About.It.

Whether you’ve ever accidentally sent a confidential email to the wrong employee, or come eye-wateringly close to hitting that Reply All button when it should have been a one-on-one exchange, it always pays to double-check before you press send. 😨

10. Sure, Bill. I’ll get right on that.

Raise your hand if you’re the only HR person hiring for a small business? 🙋🏻‍♀️

While there are a million and one things you’d absolutely love to do to improve processes and employee engagement, there’s only one of you.

If you’re holding down the fort as a one-person HR department, at least it helps to know there’s a meme for that. 😉

11. The never-ending HR to do list

Alongside a never-ending list of “priorities”, HR and hiring managers also have to switch from interviewer to educator, to confidant — sometimes all within the same morning.

You gotta admit, it keeps the job interesting!

12. But it’s the annual review!

An employee waxes poetic about wanting to develop and grow, but when it comes to their performance review, they’re gone faster than you can say “360 degree feedback”.

Sound familiar?

Maybe it’s a fear of being criticized, or maybe it gets moved to make room for “other priorities”, but one thing’s for sure — pinning down a date for employee reviews ain’t easy!

13. The best laid plans of the 2020s memes

We might all be doing our best to forget about the dreaded ‘C-word’, but just to remind you what superstars you truly are, we’ve included a couple of throwbacks to the chaotic early 2020s.

Like remember that time we all breathed a collective sigh of relief thinking we were “done” with the pandemic? 😂

Cue Omicron’s super poorly timed entrance.

Sounding more like the newest transformer than a virus, this COVID variant once again threw the world of HR into chaos. Fun, right?

14. Oh yeah, we totally offer hybrid.

“You will work in the office every Tuesday and Thursday, except for every other Thursday when you’ll come in on the Friday and every fourth Tuesday when you’ll come in on the Wednesday”.

Got it? Great.

When it comes to figuring out a return to work plan, things get confusing fast.

Social distancing, childcare responsibilities, maximum office capacities — just working out who was going to be in the office, and when, was nothing short of a logistical nightmare.

But we’re getting the hang of it, right? 🥲

15. That airtight return-to-work plan meme

Getting the office ready for return to work was nothing short of a full-scale operation.

From making sure there were enough face masks to go around, to socially distancing the desks and stocking the cupboards with gallons of hand sanitizer, employees have HR managers to thank for keeping things as safe as possible when we all returned to the office. 🙌🏿

16. HR managers, we salute you!

Pandemic or not, a day in the life of HR is anything but boring.

You fight fires, provide a shoulder to cry on, and are essentially the ‘quick-before-it-dries’ industrial strength super glue that holds organizations together.

Despite everything that’s been thrown at you, you rise to the challenge without complaining.

(Okay, maybe occasionally complaining…)

HR managers, we salute you!

Keep doing what you’re doing. After all, you can’t spell HERO without HR! 🦸🏻

Need more HR memes?

Has your meme itch been sufficiently scratched or do you need more to get you through your busy week?

If you're looking for a little more meme-spiration, check out these awesome sources.

And when the going gets tough, know that it’s always ok to take a quick meme-break! 😉

These 16 HR Memes Pretty Much Say It All