This piece re-examines perspectives and evidence on the management of human resources and raises key issues, such as the role of labour, the state, and forms of flexibility. It seems that rather than simply being business-driven and introduced, the management of human resources remains influenced and constrained by key external influences. Despite some change, HRM often continues to be, on the one hand, diverse and dynamic while on the other, locationally-specific and contradictory, a situation many businesses and management gurus need to remember.