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Living, breathing and working in the world of work brings continual challenges. The challenge of staying motivated at work is increasingly difficult when people around you are being let go all of the time. As soon as you start to feel safe and are able to once again focus on your work, another round of layoffs occurs, sometimes without any warning or sense of it coming.

Because work and life are so closely connected, they both become a struggle to get through, and any sense of joy or accomplishment can be sapped away. It is tough on the front lines.

For better or worse, I have an interesting vantage point. In my job, I am on the front lines viewing a lot of what is taking place. The one department in companies that I believe has it the hardest is one that you might not suspect. The human resources department may have the most challenging job right now.

Many employees do not want to make eye contact with HR staffers or even give simple greetings as they once did; those greetings have been replaced with nods and no small talk. The fear is that if they stand out, they might be next.

This is a sad situation for a myriad of reasons. Although human resources is typically responsible for carrying out the layoffs in companies, that department typically doesn’t make the choices; that decision usually is done at a higher or different level. But the HR folks are the ones who take the brunt of the anger and distrust from other employees.

A recent Workforce Management magazine survey of human resources professionals has shown that overseeing layoffs and other matters related to the recession within companies is wearing them down; some are getting out of the HR profession altogether.

For example, 72.8 percent of HR people are suffering from some type of depression, stress or anxiety, and 64.8 percent are dealing with issues of sleeplessness related to their job. Though it may seem that because of their function they are above it or don’t care, this survey shows just the opposite. Not only do they care, but the level of care they have for people is wearing on them in dramatic ways.

Whenever I ask human resources people why they chose to go into HR, the answer is typically the same. They did it because they care about people and want to help people and companies excel in what they do. They do not like or revel in being seen as the hatchet man. Some say they drink more alcohol or have taken up smoking cigarettes in order to cope.

In the same survey, human resources respondents said that 25 percent of employees within their organizations have treated them differently than in better times.

That is a sad conclusion for a group of people who are all about people and helped to shape and hire the right teams for their company. There will be a lot of negative effects left in the wake of this recession, and this is one that I think is sadly overlooked.

Nick Reddin is a regional director for Manpower Inc. in Central Iowa.