# Labor Relations Specialists

US SOC code 13-1075. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/13-1075

Also called: Employee relations specialist, Labor relations manager, Union relations specialist, Employee relations manager, Workforce relations specialist.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **64,810** US labor relations specialists, with median pay of **$95,420** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://irc4hr.org/resources/the-75th-anniversary-of-industrial-relations-counselors-inc/) of **500** from 1926, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for labor relations specialists: People analytics platforms + cloud HRIS contract compliance, 2015 to 2023.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 2.1% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-1075&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **44.3%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Labor Relations Specialists employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1914
- Latest US employment: 64,810 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $95,420 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [7]
- Outlook: +2.1% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [22]

### All 19 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1926 | 500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., IRC4HR [1] |
| 1950 | 15,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., A Brief Examination of Union Membership… [2] |
| 1955 | n/a | $5,200 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [6] |
| 1970 | 55,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Labor unions in the United States [3] |
| 1990 | 78,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Economic Policy Institute [4] |
| 2012 | 75,930 | $54,660 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 76,160 | $54,630 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 79,780 | $56,950 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 79,330 | $58,820 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 79,430 | $62,310 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 78,510 | $63,200 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 77,140 | $67,790 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 75,580 | $69,020 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 70,050 | $73,240 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 63,810 | $77,010 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 62,200 | $82,010 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 62,800 | $89,980 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 64,590 | $93,500 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 64,810 | $95,420 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (71)

### Employment series

1. [IRC4HR -- "The 75th Anniversary of Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc." (founding history and early practitioner network)](https://irc4hr.org/resources/the-75th-anniversary-of-industrial-relations-counselors-inc/), Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc.
2. [A Brief Examination of Union Membership Data, Congressional Research Service (R47596) -- historical union density 1940s-1950s](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47596), Congressional Research Service / Library of Congress
3. [Labor unions in the United States -- Wikipedia (union density historical series, citing BLS and CPS data)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States), Wikipedia / BLS source data
4. [Explaining the erosion of private-sector unions -- Economic Policy Institute (union density decline 1980-1990)](https://www.epi.org/unequalpower/publications/private-sector-unions-corporate-legal-erosion/), Economic Policy Institute
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [University of Missouri Libraries -- Prices and Wages by Decade: 1950-1959 (BLS occupational wage surveys, professional and managerial workers)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
7. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
8. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

9. [IRC4HR -- "The 75th Anniversary of Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc." (employee representation plan history, Rockefeller era)](https://irc4hr.org/resources/the-75th-anniversary-of-industrial-relations-counselors-inc/), Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc.
10. [National Archives -- National Labor Relations Act (1935): milestone document](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/national-labor-relations-act), National Archives and Records Administration
11. [National Labor Relations Board -- "1935 passage of the Wagner Act" (history)](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/who-we-are/our-history/1935-passage-of-the-wagner-act), National Labor Relations Board
12. [Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service -- "1947" (founding history under Taft-Hartley)](https://www.fmcs.gov/1947/), Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
13. [NLRB -- "1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions" (key statutory changes)](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/who-we-are/our-history/1947-taft-hartley-substantive-provisions), National Labor Relations Board
14. [Wikipedia -- WordPerfect (history of word processing adoption in professional settings)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPerfect), Wikipedia
15. [Cornell ILR School -- "About ILR" (mission and history of professional training for collective bargaining)](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/about-ilr), Cornell University ILR School
16. [Bloomberg Law -- Labor and Employment platform (history and features overview)](https://pro.bloomberglaw.com/labor-employment/), Bloomberg Law
17. [Visier -- Workforce AI: people analytics and labor market intelligence (2025)](https://www.visier.com/), Visier
18. [Culture Amp -- AI-powered employee experience and engagement analytics (2025)](https://www.cultureamp.com/), Culture Amp
19. [Harvey AI -- Legal research and contract analysis for employment and labor law (2025)](https://www.harvey.ai/), Harvey AI
20. [NLRB -- General Counsel Memorandum GC 25-01: AI and Surveillance Technologies in the Workplace (January 2025)](https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-general-counsel-issues-memo-on-ai-and-surveillance-technologies), National Labor Relations Board
21. [Perkins Coie -- "Generative AI in Movies and TV: How the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA Contracts Address Generative AI" (AI provisions analysis, via JD Supra)](https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/generative-ai-in-movies-and-tv-how-the-1326906/), Perkins Coie

### Forecasts and exposure studies

22. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 13-1075 Labor relations specialists (2025: 66.3 thousand; 2035: 67.7 thousand; +2.1%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-1075&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
23. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 13-1075.00, human-rated β 0.443)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

24. [IRC4HR -- "The 75th Anniversary of Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc." (Ludlow Massacre origin story)](https://irc4hr.org/resources/the-75th-anniversary-of-industrial-relations-counselors-inc/), Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc.
25. [Princeton IRS -- "About Us: Industrial Relations Section" (founding 1922, Rockefeller support)](https://irs.princeton.edu/about-us), Princeton University Industrial Relations Section
26. [National Archives -- National Labor Relations Act (1935): milestone document](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/national-labor-relations-act), National Archives and Records Administration
27. [Cornell ILR School -- "ILR School Founded 75 Years Ago" (founding history)](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/about-ilr/ilr-school-founded-75-years-ago), Cornell University ILR School
28. [Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service -- "1947" (FMCS founding under Taft-Hartley)](https://www.fmcs.gov/1947/), Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
29. [A Brief Examination of Union Membership Data, Congressional Research Service (R47596) -- union density peak 34.7% circa 1954](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47596), Congressional Research Service / Library of Congress
30. [Labor history of the United States -- Wikipedia (PATCO strike 1981)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States), Wikipedia
31. [Perkins Coie -- "Generative AI in Movies and TV: How the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA Contracts Address Generative AI" (via JD Supra)](https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/generative-ai-in-movies-and-tv-how-the-1326906/), Perkins Coie

### Predecessors & successors

32. [IRC4HR -- 75th Anniversary of Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. (founding 1926, Rockefeller era practitioner community)](https://irc4hr.org/resources/the-75th-anniversary-of-industrial-relations-counselors-inc/), Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc.
33. [The historical development of American HRM broadly viewed (ScienceDirect) -- personnel department emergence in the 1910s-1920s](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053482214000114), ScienceDirect / Human Resource Management Review

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Labor Relations Specialists (13-1075.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-1075.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Human Resources Specialists (incl. Labor Relations) (2024)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/human-resources-specialists.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [NLRB — General Counsel Memorandum GC 25-01: AI and Surveillance Technologies in the Workplace (Jan 2025)](https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-general-counsel-issues-memo-on-ai-and-surveillance-technologies), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Proskauer — AI at Work: Safety and NLRA Best Practices for Employers (2025)](https://www.proskauer.com/pub/ai-at-work-safety-and-nlra-best-practices-for-employers), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Bloomberg Law — AI Provisions in Labor Contracts: SAG-AFTRA, WGA, UAW Analysis (2025)](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/ai-labor-contract-provisions), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Fisher Phillips — AI and the NLRA: Why Employers Should Proceed with Caution on AI in Bargaining Unit Work (2025)](https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/the-dark-side-of-labor-law-why-latest-union-battle-means-employers-should-proceed-with-caution), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Harvey AI — Legal research and contract analysis for employment and labor law (2025)](https://www.harvey.ai/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [HR Acuity — AI-powered employee relations case management (2025)](https://www.hracuity.com/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Culture Amp — AI-powered employee experience and engagement analytics (2025)](https://www.cultureamp.com/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Bloomberg Law — Labor & Employment AI: CBA research and contract benchmarking (2025)](https://pro.bloomberglaw.com/labor-employment/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [AlphaSense — Contract Intelligence for Labor Relations Benchmarking (2025)](https://www.alpha-sense.com/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Microsoft — Microsoft 365 Copilot: Word and Outlook drafting assistance (2025)](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot), accessed 2026-05-23

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.