

Human Resource (2026) is a South Korean comedy-drama film directed by Jung Jae-eun. The movie presents a sharp yet relatable look at modern office culture, exploring how corporate structures shape the lives of ordinary employees. Mixing humor with social commentary, the film focuses on the pressures, ambitions, and quiet frustrations experienced by workers trying to survive within a rigid corporate hierarchy.
The story follows Hye-jung, an experienced employee who works in the human resources department of a large company in Seoul. Her job requires her to manage hiring, discipline, and layoffs—decisions that directly affect the lives of the company’s workers. Although she tries to remain professional and neutral, the position gradually places her in morally complicated situations.
When the company begins restructuring to improve profits, Hye-jung is assigned the difficult responsibility of identifying employees who should be dismissed. As she reviews personnel records and conducts interviews, she becomes increasingly aware of the personal struggles hidden behind each file. Many of the workers she must evaluate are people she has known for years, making every decision emotionally challenging.
At the same time, Hye-jung faces pressure from upper management to prioritize efficiency and financial gain over empathy. The conflict between corporate expectations and personal conscience pushes her to question the role she plays in a system that treats people as numbers rather than individuals.
As tensions rise within the office, relationships between colleagues begin to shift, revealing rivalries, loyalties, and hidden ambitions. Through its quiet but powerful storytelling, Human Resource examines how workplace decisions affect real lives and asks whether compassion can survive within a system driven by profit and performance.