The demands of the last two years made HR more complex. Yet it was never a simple profession: HR departments have long balanced hefty administrative workloads against people management needs and strategic goals.

Then, the pandemic added a focus on safety. It became HR’s job to monitor the changing legal landscape around symptom checks, COVID-19 testing and vaccination requirements. With those concerns still playing out, a talent crisis arose. Workers quit at a record pace, leaving talent professionals scrambling to fill vacancies and stop others from following suit.

As the last two years unfolded, how did these issues affect the HR professionals facing them? HR Dive asked practitioners about the work they did, how they got it done and what impact it created. The results, captured in the second-annual Identity of HR Survey, were enlightening